Your not so average princess
by Kirara
Summary: Kagome is a princess with Kikyo as her stupid elder sister. They are at war for one prince: InuYasha. Sesshomaru, InuYasha's older brother, steps in for Kagome's hand in marrage. How will IY Kag get Kikyo and Sesshy outa their way?
1. Entering the dragons den

Disclaimer: I don't own any character I mention in this story unless there is a name in this fic that you don't recognize, k?  
  
Don't ask.I'm tired.  
  
This is my second fic and I hope is a little bit better than my first fic (which didn't do that bad^^). Please remember to review at the end of this chapter and please go easy with the flames, okay? ^.^'  
  
Okay, a few quick things. In this fic: Kikyo is Kagome's elder sister. Nazuna is Kikyo's Lady in waiting. Nazuna is afraid of spiders but who isn't? ::glares at the one person who raises their hand (-_-):: Nazuna is just like Kikyo, okay? It's not that I don't like Nazuna but I didn't think Mayu would make a good Lady in waiting for Kikyo.  
  
Um. I think that's about it.if there is anything else in this fic that's different then I'll try to make it as understandable as possible.  
  
Okay! ^^  
  
Your.not so average princess  
  
Chapter One: Enter the Dragon  
  
Sparkling blue eyes gazed, out a high window of one of the most dazzling castles ever built, out onto the distant land, watching the sunrise. Kagome imagined the sea was somewhere out there, sparkling and blue with ships bobbing on it, just like in the story books she had read when she was young. She had added 'visit sea' to her list of things to do in her life ages ago but still.she waited for the day when she could smell the salty air.  
  
Kagome sighed as she recalled dinner the night before. There was going to be a ball in her older sister's honor because she was turning 16. She had to marry.And Kagome had to attend. Kagome hated balls and fancy parties and she saw no reason to attend this one but it was her mother's wishes and Kagome was wise enough not to argue. Kikyo, her older sister, was as princessey as you could get. She was slender, elegant and beautiful. She loved balls and parties and if she had to ride a horse, she would go no faster than she needed to. However, no matter how hard she tried she would always get thrown off somehow by the horse she was on. Every horse she ever sat on seemed to sense her fear and distaste towards them. Kikyo was a sit in the garden and read, knit or cross-stitch kind of girl. The only sport she played was croquet and so the only exercise she got was swinging the mallet and looking at herself in the mirror. Kagome was exactly the opposite. Kagome was still slender elegant and beautiful but in a different kind of way. Kagome may have had more beauty than Kikyo. She loved to read, but it was usually about adventures, and she played the flute and the piano, but they were usually lively tunes or songs about the sea or the mountains. Climbing a mountain was also on her list of Things-to-do-before- I-die. Kagome's favorite things to do were to ride horses, archery, and fencing. She also loved swimming in the pond and climbing trees.  
  
Basically, she loved doing what she, as a princess, wasn't supposed to and just about everything Kikyo hated.  
  
"Three days before I taste hell again." Kagome muttered referring to the ball. She had no idea that this one would be so different than the last.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes you."  
  
"Go to a ball?"  
  
"That's what I-"  
  
"AGAIN??? I'M NOT EVEN INVITED!!!"  
  
"WhAt??"  
  
"This is for.SESSHOMARU!!" Inu-Yasha's voice was deadly calm.  
  
"Inu-Yasha-"  
  
"You see his name?" Inu-Yasha poked the paper on his elder brother's name: Yes? And where is mine? Huh?"  
  
"Inu-Yasha.calm yourself."  
  
"Myoga-jiji.."Inu-Yasha growled dangerously at his man-servant. Myoga sweated; this was exactly the reaction he expected but the orders had been so sharp, he hadn't time to prepare.  
  
"Inu-Yasha, please don't take your anger out on me!" Myoga squeaked, begging for forgiveness, "I am merely the messenger!"  
  
"Keh."  
  
Myoga sighed inwardly with relief; he was getting somewhere!  
  
"Please cooperate with me and go to the ball!"  
  
Mistake.  
  
"Who's gonna make me?" Inu-Yasha challenged with a smirk on his face, as he wandered over to the window.  
  
"I-I-I-I will if n-necessary!"  
  
Inu-Yasha certainly wasn't expecting that. He stopped in his tracks and looked at the old man. Then fell on the floor laughing. As if Myoga could make him! He hardly even came to Inu-Yasha's waist!  
  
Myoga sighed, "This is why you aren't allowed to stay home. You don't listen to anybody bigger than you! Plainly: Your parents want to keep an eye on you and it is a full three day's trip to the Higurashi palace!"  
  
"Higurashi? We haven't been there before."  
  
"I know that."  
  
"Why didn't you say so?"  
  
"You never asked."  
  
"Myoga-jiji."  
  
Myoga gulped, "They have two daughters. The elder one is Princess Kikyo; about to turn 16, and the younger one is just half a year younger than you: Almost 15. Her name is Princess Kagome."  
  
"What do I care about them? They're probably no different than the other princesses that I've been tortured by before: Bitchy and their faces are glued to their mirrors."  
  
Myoga sweated some more.  
  
"I'm tired of hearing how many cross stitch competitions there are and how many one princess or another has won! I'm betting that they're both like that."  
  
Myoga gulped.  
  
"Am I right?" Inu-Yasha's bored face glanced and the old man.  
  
"Quite frankly.I don't know. You'll just have to come and meet them yourself!"  
  
Inu-Yasha pretended to ignore him.  
  
Myoga sighed, "I'll double your allowance for 1 month if you make conversation and dance with one of the Higurashi princesses." He bribed.  
  
"Deal."  
  
Myoga happily scurried from the prince's chambers to deliver the news to the King and Queen and then he ran to get a big drink of water. Inu-Yasha sighed and then smirked. He didn't have to be nice in his conversation with that unlucky princess.  
  
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"So, what did the old man want?"  
  
"Miroku?" Inu-Yasha was surprised, "I sent someone up here to pack my things, not chat with me!"  
  
"I know the way around your room pretty well. Besides, if anyone else came up to pack for you, you'd be stuck in frilly tuxedoes for a week."  
  
Inu-Yasha shuddered. Miroku smiled.  
  
"We'll just pack you one of those for the actual occasion." Miroku pulled out a black suit and white gloves, "this suit and this white shirt." Miroku muttered more to himself.  
  
20 minutes later: "Done!" Miroku slammed the trunk closed, locked it and then tossed the key to the prince.  
  
Inu-Yasha shook his head in wonder, "Miroku I'm glad you came up instead of anyone else. You know what fits me and what I like to wear. I'd be stuck here trying on everything in my wardrobe just to see if it looked nice. Thank you."  
  
"Guess what?" Miroku was practically jumping with glee.  
  
"I'm afraid."  
  
"I get to go with you!!"  
  
Inu-Yasha looked at him and then smiled, "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. You don't have to attend the actual thin-" Then it's struck Inu-Yasha that that was what his friend intended to do. He groaned.  
  
"There are going to be lots of beautiful women there!"  
  
"Just control your hands otherwise you're going to be kicked out and you'll bring shame to my family."  
  
"Oh I wouldn't dream of letting my hands go awry during such an important event!" Miroku's face suddenly became very stern.  
  
Sesshomaru's face peeked around the door, "Father says it's time to have your trunks loaded into the luggage carriage."  
  
"Can you hear something? Or is it just me?" Inu-Yasha looked annoyed.  
  
Miroku was about to respond when Sesshomaru warned him.  
  
"Did you hear me Inu-Yasha? Father says it's time to have your trunks loaded for the trip!!"  
  
Inu-Yasha looked at Sesshy then his eye's light up: "Hey that sounds like that game!!"  
  
"What game?" Miroku asked, as equally excited and eager as Inu-Yasha, to annoy the elder prince.  
  
"It's like.it's like.SIMON SAYS!! You know? But now it's FATHER SAYS!!"  
  
Sesshomaru nearly died of shock from his immature brother. He walked down the hall with his younger brother and Miroku chanting out things like: "Father says touch your ear!"  
  
"Father says touch you arm!"  
  
"Touch your butt!"  
  
"MIROKU!!!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*  
  
One day till the ball.  
  
Kagome sighed as she rode through the fields with her best friend, who happened to be her lady in waiting, Sango.  
  
"You're thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow night, I should say."  
  
"How did you know?" Kagome asked.  
  
"You look so miserable. You're hardly ever miserable when you're riding."  
  
"You can read me like a blackboard, Sango-chan."  
  
"Most of the time," Sango agreed.  
  
"How can you not even think about it??"  
  
"I'm not the center of attention. Me, finding Mr. Right won't affect anyone except for my family."  
  
"Lucky."  
  
They rode in silence for a while.  
  
"I'm not even the eldest child and I still have to get married!" Kagome scowled.  
  
"Sometimes Kagome, I wish the guys I danced with paid more attention to me. They're just so interested in getting their turn to dance with you that they don't even see me."  
  
"I wish things were a little more even."  
  
"I just want to get married and raise a family and live a happy life."  
  
"I wish it were as simple as that for me. But if I marry, then I'll BELONG to my Prince. It's like I'll be a THING.AND GODDAMNIT I'M NOBODIES THING!!"  
  
Sango nearly toppled off her horse from laughing.  
  
"Wha?- Oh! Sango! You're SO perverted sometimes."  
  
"S-s-sorry!" Sango struggled to regain herself.  
  
"Come on! It's nearly dinner.I'll race you back!"  
  
"Hey! No fair! You got a head start!"  
  
Kagome and Sango raced across the fields, Kagome finally forgetting about the next night, betting each other that who ever won would get 20 dollars. They tied (no, really! They actually did!).  
  
  
  
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That same day. "Inu-Yasha, what's wrong?"  
  
"Ugg."  
  
"I don't think he feels to good, Highness."  
  
"I can see that, young Lord Miroku."  
  
"It's this stupid cart that we're riding in, mother. What happened to the shocks?" Inu-Yasha asked irritably.  
  
"I'm sorry Inu-Yasha but it's not the shocks, it's the road!"  
  
"Permission to get out and ride a horse?"  
  
"Permission denied."  
  
Inu-Yasha went back to sulking as his carriage heaved his stomach about. He would be strong! He sailed on ships for heaven's sake! His castle was a spit away from the ocean! But this.this seemed different.  
  
"Shikon castle in sight!" The driver hollered. Inu-Yasha and Miroku both poked their heads out the windows they were next too and gazed in awe up at the marvelous, towering castle. It wasn't that this one was prettier than Tetsusaiga (his castle) but it was the way that the setting sun caught the side of it.  
  
Thinking about how pretty the castle was, made him think about the people who lived inside of it which then made him think of Miroku and how he was probably hoping that the Princesses were as gorgeous as the castle. Inu- Yasha sweat dropped as he glanced at his friend's expression. Yup. That was the first thing he thought of.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
  
"May I announce the arrival of the King, Queen, and their two sons from the Kingdom, Tetsusaiga."  
  
"Show them to their quarters." The King ordered, as he looked up from his soup, "I will see them as soon as dinner is finished."  
  
"Wouldn't they like something to eat dear?" Kagome's mother asked.  
  
"Oh! Um.yes, yes.inform them that dinner is ready for them whenever they are ready."  
  
Servants rushed around, some to carry out the King's orders by delivering the message, some to yell at the cook to make more soup.  
  
"Daughters, would you like to excuse yourselves so that you have the pleasure of meeting the two princes tomorrow night?"  
  
"Yes, Father!" Kagome hurriedly responded. Kagome was out of the room and made a beeline to the practice room. Kikyo sniffed at her sister's unladylike way of exiting the room and got up better than she usually did just to make a point.  
  
Kagome picked her sword from the rack on the wall and started slashing at the wooden dummy in one corner of the room, While Kikyo bathed and got ready for bed.  
  
How different they were. Too bad they both ended up liking the same Prince.  
  
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Kagome and Kikyo never saw Inu-Yasha and Sesshomaru until the ball started. Of course, to the two princesses, these princes were just on the list of the other princes and lords that were going to be there and had no significance. All day, everyone was inside preparing for the big night except for Kagome. She was out in the field on her horse or practicing her archery or slashing wooden dummies with swords and only went to her room to prepare when her mother got angry at her during lunch when she found out what she had been doing all day. Kagome had to suffer through the lecture about how it didn't matter that it was Kikyo's birthday today and not Kagome's and that she was attending the ball to make her country proud. She should meet some of the princes there so that she could pick her husband easier when it was her turn. Then she got the lecture about how it didn't mater that she was the youngest she would still marry so that the country would still have it's pride, though what pride had to do with anything, Kagome couldn't see. Some 40 years later Kagome was released from her mother's lecture and sent to her quarters to get ready. ("AND HURRY!"). Geeze! It wasn't like Kagome was a turtle. She could get ready for a ball in two hours, she didn't need a whole day like her sister who would freak out if she left her hand mirror and a comb behind when she went out (actually there were more things on the list than her comb and a mirror but the list is too long). Kagome sighed as she undressed. She tossed her pants and her tunic into a basket that a maid would come by later to pick up and wash. Why would anyone put up the fuss for being able to wear a dress? She climbed into the bubble filled tub that a maid had run for her and inhaled the rosy fragrance from the bubbles. She washed her self with more rosy stuff (soap, shampoo, conditioner.you can tell what her favourite flower is) and thought about the night ahead of her. She had planned it all out: She would walk into the ballroom with her sister, like she was supposed to, dance for five songs, eat something from the food table and then make her getaway to the gardens. Perfect. She washed her face and after putting on a few fragrances on her neck and shoulders, wandered back into her room to the dress Sango had laid out for her. Her maids dressed her (much to her annoyance) and applied light lipstick, mascara, and a touch of eye shadow to bring out her eyes more (even though her eyes sparkled brightly all on their own). She would not let them put on any more than that.  
  
"You're beautiful Kagome!"  
  
Kagome turned to the door and saw Sango gazing in. Kagome smiled for the first time that day.  
  
"Your wonderful too, Sango-chan."  
  
"I'll see you in the ball room then."  
  
"Yes, Sango. Good luck."  
  
"No it's good luck to you."  
  
"Whatever, just.see you there!" she laughed as her friend left then stared back, sadly into the mirror.  
  
'How can Sango just think of it as a ballroom?' Kagome thought, 'to me it's a dragon's den with the dragon waiting inside, to push me around and then finally chew me up and spit me out.' She and her sister met in the hall and didn't say a thing. Kagome hardly saw where she was walking and didn't notice her sister's jealous look.  
  
'How can she be prettier than me and not have so much makeup on???' Kikyo screamed inside. She tried not to let her emotion spread to her face but it was out of control. Kikyo snapped her head away from Kagome and looked straight ahead thinking that there were so many princes to choose from and she was so proud that this ball was being held just for her. Kagome stared at the double doors in front of her with dread.  
  
'Ok, dance, eat, and escape!' She thought, 'I can escape this dragon!' she was glad that her madness didn't show on her face. Instead she just looked ahead.  
  
"Smile!" her sister hissed, "Don't look like you'd rather be anywhere else.and I don't care if you do want to be some place else. Just don't embarrass me!"  
  
"Why on earth would I want to embarrass you?" Kagome casually asked. Kikyo rolled her eyes. Kagome plastered a smile on her face that made her eyes shine. Kikyo instantly wished she hadn't ask her sister to smile; it only made her look prettier.  
  
Kagome braced herself as the doors opened and then.she entered the dragon's den.  
  
I don't care if it is a cheesy ending, just.you know what I mean when I say she entered the dragon: it means the doors opened and she and her sister walked into the ballroom and down the stairs. Next thing: I don't care if you could just flounce right in there with out being nervous cause I couldn't do that. I mean, talk about all eyes on you (I hate that and in this fic, so does Kagome). Great! I got up at 6:30 this morning (partially because of my kitty (Tosca) and the reason I couldn't go back to sleep was.well.okokok, let's just blame that on Tosca cause you don't need to know the real reason! ^^') so if I come across as a little bit grumpy there is your reason. I figured I could put my time to good use instead of just.lying there.  
  
Thanks to Momori who has so kindly edited this chapter.  
  
K, you see the lil button that says: 'click here to submit a review'? Big hint: Click it! ^.^  
  
I will keep writing but I won't post, unless I get a good bundle of reviews, k?  
  
Thanx.  
  
-Noodals 


	2. A wonderful night gone wrong

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha but this story you're reading is MINE! ^.^'  
  
K, Important thing: This is not going to be a Sesshy/ Kag, IY/Kikyo, k? I hate fics like that so if you don't like it..flame me once and then stop reading. I promise all you IY/Kag fans that this will be a happy story and you don't have to worry about me switching couples, k?  
  
I would also like to say that I have nothing against Nazuna but I thought that if you didn't know who that character was, then the name could have been given to an antagonist. Please forgive me if you like Nazuna but as I said some time ago, Nazuna would have made a better lady in waiting for Kikyo than Mayu. ^^  
  
  
  
Deh second chap:  
  
Your.not so average princess. Chapter two: A wonderful night gone wrong.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Inu-Yasha looked up at the double doors as the two girls entered. The rest of the crowd gasped but Inu-Yasha couldn't see what all of the excitement was all about. As far as he could see, their faces couldn't even be distinguished from the back of the room, where he was standing. He nearly hit Miroku on the back of the head for gasping along with the group but then remembered where he was and he didn't quite feel like starting a scene.especially as the two girls hadn't even made it down the stairs. However he then saw a hand wave wildly above everyone else's heads at the two girls and realized that he could have caused a scene and it wouldn't be so unusual. He still decided against it.  
  
Kagome's eyes glazed as she gazed over the mass of lords and ladies, her false smile dazzling all those who didn't know it was fake. She nearly broke a tooth trying to keep her smile intact as the hand waved at her from the middle of the crowd. 'Which JACKASS invited KOUGA????' she thought. Half of her wanted to run from the room and another part of her wanted to go charging through the gathering to Kouga and pound him to the floor. The remaining part of her was her dignified part of her that told her that tonight was going to be bad and boring.don't make it any worse. Thank her civil mind that she listened to the dignified cell in her body. Her mother had already made the speech about the grand purpose of this ball so as soon as she and her sister stepped off the stairs the music began. Some guy grabbed her and hurled her onto the dance floor. "You're prettier than the last time I saw you!" Kagome looked up into the face of her dance partner. " Lord Hojo!" "Aye it's me!" He gallantly said trying to put a twinkle in his eye but only managed to squint and look like watermelon rind was holding his mouth in a smile. Kagome had to endure two minutes of hearing about Hojo's favourite things to do.The song finally ended. She mentally ticked of that she had danced one of the five dances she had promised herself that she would dance. She moved along to the next guy. She looked at him. He had long, flowing, white hair and copper colored eyes. "Good evening princess! I am Prince Sesshomaru." "Good evening prince Sesshomaru." "What can you tell me about your sister?" "She's a bitch." "Typical sister talk, eh?" His silky voice was starting to scare her. "K, she likes knitting and croquet." "She looks like she can sing! I'll bet she can sing like the devil!" "She sure can.a devil being run over by a car." Kagome thought about her sister's squawky voice she considered to be her song voice and shuddered. Kagome was usually out of the castle when her sister was in the shower.singing. Kagome had to endure several more minutes with this guy 'Call me Sesshy'. Kagome nearly barfed when he said that to her.  
  
Next song. "You must be Princess Kagome!" "No...you think?" the mumbled. "I am Lord Hiten!" Kagome stared. "I am the greatest fencer in all the world!" "I'll bet I'm better than you." She muttered. "Sorry gorgeous? What did you say?" Kagome nearly gagged at the fact that he called her gorgeous. "I said: I'll bet you really are too!" The guy beamed.  
  
200 years later the song ended. Kagome practically threw herself away from the guy she was dancing with. If she heard one more word about knocking some foreign guy down with a sword she would strangle someone. Kikyo had been keeping an eye on Kagome and the men she had danced with just to see if they were worthy of dancing with her too. When she lost sight of her sister after the second dance and then saw her reappear at the drink table she relaxed for this next song.  
  
"God! If I have to dance one more time while listening to men, blinded by their ego, I'm gonna kill someone." She whispered fiercely out loud but more to herself. She snatched a glass of champagne from the table. "So dance with me." Kagome looked up and saw a guy who looked kind of bored in his own cool sort of way. 'Note to self:' Kagome thought furiously to herself, 'ALWAYS see if someone is around before commenting!!' Inu-Yasha had been watching her and her sister for the first two songs, trying to decide which one to dance with so he could close the bargain with Myoga. He decided Kagome would be more interesting to talk with. He glanced over at Kikyo who was busy flirting with the guy she was dancing with and batting her eyes at him. "What makes you think you're different from the rest?" "I don't know.I'm sure they all say that they're better." "Fine. Err.what kind of dance is this?" She sheepishly looked up into his golden eyes. He looked at her with disbelief, "A waltz." "That's the one with three beats per bar, right?" "Something like that." "Ok then!" Kagome threw her false smile on again, took his hand and they whirled back onto the dance floor. 'Well, he/she isn't a bad dancer,' they both thought. 'Even if it is the dullest song known to humanity' Kagome continued in her own thoughts. 'Even if she didn't know the type of song.'Inu-Yasha continued. The two of them continued to dance, lost in their own thoughts, (' wow, he really isn't bragging about swords and horses! Of course he isn't saying anything either.' 'I was right.she can't like to cross-stitch! Otherwise I'm sure I would have heard about it.') so let's just wander over to Sango.  
  
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"So, you must be really close to Kagome or Kikyo right? I'm mean what do they like so that when I talk to them, I can make one of them interested in me?" "You don't care which one of them is interested in you?" Sango dully asked. "Well, beggars can't be choosers!" "What's your name?" "I am Prince Kouga!!" Sango nearly fell over. Anyhow, she was sick of listening to him so at the next time in the music for the ladies to spin, she spun him instead to make her getaway. It worked. Then however, she bumped into someone else, who for some reason was on the dance floor with out a partner (probably because the lady he was dancing with didn't want to keep dancing with him for specific reasons.). He grabbed her hand and she spun around again back into the waltz. "What is your name sweet maiden?" Sango looked up at the man she was dancing with. "My name is Lady Sango. What, pray-tell is yours?" "My name, my dear, is Lord Miroku." Sango smiled. This was the first guy all night that hadn't wanted to verify that the girls in the pretty blue and red dresses (Kagome in blue, Kikyo in red) where indeed the princesses of the hosts. Sango actually started to enjoy her night while dancing with this Miroku. Miroku actually enjoyed dancing with Sango too that he forgot to say his pickup line (and we all know what that is.).  
  
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Kikyo looked up into the eyes of the man she was dancing with. He looked so.mature. He danced wonderfully and he had doused her with compliments too. She had to know who he was. "Pray-thee tell me what is the name of this handsome man I am dancing with?" she sweetly asked. 'Shakespeare!' he thought. "Sweet princess, my name thou shall know: It I, Prince Sesshomaru." "Sesshomaru."she dreamily repeated (Sad isn't it?). Kikyo then glanced over to the drink table and then, in horror, saw that Kagome was no longer there. Her eyes scanned the crown until she saw the familiar tiara on raven- black hair that was not pulled back. She looked at the man Kagome was dancing with and saw a younger version of the man she was dancing with. Obviously she couldn't see his face properly but she could definitely see the white hair but she also managed to make out spots of gold where his eyes were. She looked into the copper eyes of Sesshomaru. 'I must be dancing with the older one.' She thought, 'he must obviously be better looking and more mature.' Kikyo clearly wasn't thinking about how Kagome was younger than her and still prettier but there's Kikyo for you.  
  
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A/N: K, let me outline this for you: Kagome is dancing with Inu-Yasha (even though she still doesn't know his name), Sango is dancing with Miroku (who still hasn't asked her to bear his child), and Kikyo is dancing with Sesshomaru (Who is vaguely interested in him, however it's not like Kikyo wasn't vaguely interested in any other good looking guys). You know what? Just for kicks, Kikyo's mother is dancing with Inu-Yasha's father and Kagome's father is dancing with Sesshy's mother.  
  
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Kagome really was enjoying dancing with Inu-Yasha but this dance really was going to make her fall asleep. "You can wipe that false grin off your face." Kagome looked up, startled. Then she smiled a real, soft smile. 'She's cute when she's surprised.' Inu-Yasha decided. He also decided that her next smile was for real and.it made her damn prettier than her sister. "How did you know it was false?" "Cause, you want to be some where else. I can tell by the look in your eyes." "Like heck I do." Kagome was about to ask for his name and Inu-Yasha was going to ask her where she really wanted to be when the waltz ended 'Damn conductor.' Kagome thought. She still could have asked for his name if he hadn't been swept up by another girl and then hurtled onto the dance floor. Kagome glared at the girl who had stolen him. "Nazuna." Kagome muttered darkly as she recognized her sister's lady-in- waiting. Nazuna smirked at Kagome from over Inu-Yasha's shoulder. If looks could kill, Nazuna would have been dead on the floor. Well, if looks could kill, Kikyo would have killed a lot of people just by looking at them when she just woke up so Kagome considered herself lucky in a way. The younger princess stood on her toes and looked over the heads of the crowd to see if there were any other decent men like the one she had just danced with. Nope. As far as she could see, all the men were babbling away with some stupid grin on their faces. Kagome wandered over the food table, to get something to eat when she found Sango there. "Sango! How's it going?" No response. "Sango?" Dreamland. "Boomerangs on sale, 50% off!" Kagome muttered in her friend's ear. "What?" Sango snapped back into reality, "Boomerangs?" "What's up with you?" "Kagome-sama, I'm enjoying myself here. I'm actually enjoying myself." "You are?? That's fantastic! What was his name??" "Lord Miroku." Kagome had to give her friend some water to keep her on earth. "I know which room he's staying in so I can-" "Sango!" "What?? Don't jump to conclusions Kagome!! So I can say goodbye to him before he goes back with his party that he came with!" "Oh.sorry! ^^" "I'm gonna see if I can find him again after this dance." "Good luck, Sango-chan" They parted; Sango wandering around the edge of the dancers, and Kagome heading for the gardens. She needed the fresh air. "I've only danced four dances but I think that's enough!" Kagome decided. The music filtered out of the ballroom as the balcony doors were opened. Kagome looked up and made a run for cover before the lord and lady who had just come out wouldn't see her. The song ended. Some sort of Mozart music started and people started whirling around again. Kagome sat on a bench under a tree and watched what she could see from that angle. (You know.from the ground to past the balcony, there isn't much to see.). Suddenly two people came to the balcony and started dancing there. Kagome smiled broadly as she saw it was Sango with someone. Sango was positively beaming, so Kagome guessed that the guy was that Miroku guy. Someone looked out of one of the ballroom windows and saw her. Kagome gulped and decided to leave her little bench. She wandered into the garden full of hedges. Surely if someone followed her they would get lost. Nope. "Sheesh! You could have told me we weren't confined to the ballroom! It's stuffy in there." Kagome whirled around. "It's you!" "I have a name." Inu-Yasha replied irritably "I'm sorry for not asking.Nazuna was too quick for me.." "Nazuna? Is that the girl I danced with after you?" "Yup." "I couldn't make out her name. It sounded like Nazeusa so I've been calling her Medusa." Kagome snorted. The band struck up again. "Hey! I recognize that song! It's.it's." Kagome struggled to remember what her music teacher had said. "but you don't know the name?" ".it's.it's.oh I don't what it's called but I like it." "May I have this dance then?" Kagome looked up into his sincere golden eyes. She responded by taking the hand he offered and they moved in time to the music. Sango and Miroku stopped dancing when they caught sight of something in the garden. "Well, it looks like my prince has found your princess." Miroku stated. "Kagome actually looks happy.and she's dancing! She hates dancing." Sango was so happy for her friend. "Does she?" Sango nodded. "I don't." Sango took up the offer and she and Miroku continued spinning around the balcony.  
  
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'Where did she get to now??' Kikyo glanced around, hopping to find her sister, 'and what's more, that white haired guy is gone too.' Kikyo was stuck in the center of the ballroom and because she was the center of attention, she couldn't get away to look for her. 'She'd better not have found someone before me!!!' some strange, mad, light appeared in her eyes when she thought that and she scared away the guy she was dancing with but just then the song ended and there was a brief announcement that there would be break so that everyone who had been dancing the entire time could get some food. Everyone left the dance floor but the orchestra kept playing. Kikyo took that time to go looking for her sister. She wanted to meet this guy that Kagome had been dancing with.  
  
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"Sure, sure.now they play lively music!" Kagome snorted. "You like lively music?" "I love it! I can't stand those boring, dull waltzes.they make me wanna fall asleep." Kagome still hadn't asked him what his name was and Inu-Yasha found it awkward if he just told her. "We could go back in and dance then." Inu-Yasha offered. "Sure.the dance floor will be empty!" "Of course everyone will stop and watch you." "Why me?" "Because you're family is hosting" "This ball was for my sister! Not for me! She's the center of attention!" "So? You're definitely prettier." Kagome blushed. "Come on! Let's go!" He grabbed her gloved hand and pulled her back into the castle. They went up the flight of stairs and reappeared in the ballroom.  
  
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It never occurred to Kikyo that Kagome would have gone to the gardens so in the stables. 'Gosh darn it! Where could she be??' *stomp, stomp, mush!* "EWWW!!! HORSE DUNG!!!!!" Kikyo ran from the stables as if it was full of Demons (I suppose a horse could be considered a demon to Kikyo.^^)  
  
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"Princess Kagome has returned!" A lady's voice sounded. All of the lords and ladies who were crowded around the food table looked up with their faces stuffed as they watched the princess with this man (well, he's 15 so would that make him a man? I dunno.I am a girl.) dance around the circle (which was marked in the floor) in a lively sort of way (can you picture what I'm saying?). Of course Inu-Yasha's parents were pleased, however, Sesshomaru glared. 'How dare my younger, pitiful, brother get the prettier princess? I am older, I get the first pick!!' He thought. Of course being the elder child, prince or no prince, doesn't mean you get first pick at a girl. Kagome was 3 years younger than Sesshy and had more interest in someone her age. Of course, Sesshy didn't know that but.sooner or later he was bound to find out. Kagome and Inu-Yasha were now the center of attention and as the princes and lords and ladies meandered back on to the ballroom floor, they soon were trapped in the center like Kikyo was only the man Kagome danced with didn't change. It was Inu-Yasha until the cows came home. Of course, by the time Kikyo finally gave up her search (and still was absent minded enough not to check the gardens) and wandered back into the ballroom (of course she changed her shoes from the horse dung) she wasn't even missed and nobody noticed her return. Kagome had taken her place. Kikyo looked like she would kill someone and it was looking like the victim was Kagome. Of course if Kikyo could break a glass by smashing it with her fist, that would have been a great accomplishment for her.  
  
Eventually Kikyo made her presence known and everyone scurried to get out of her way. Kagome and Inu-Yasha snuck away without being noticed because of the commotion Kikyo had started. The guests then definitely knew which princess they liked better: Kagome.  
  
"Whew, if I have to dance another dance I'm gonna fall down where I stand. My feet are killing me!" Kagome gasped. "You don't get on your feet often?" Inu-Yasha asked. Kagome looked up sharply, "I'm on my feet all day! It's these shoes!" Kagome lifted her skirts slightly so Inu-Yasha could see the shoes she was wearing. "I don't know what I'd do if I had to wear those all day." Inu-Yasha stared. "Oh I don't have to. Kikyo doesn't have to either but she does anyway." Inu-Yasha shuddered. "Do you shoot arrows?" "What?" "Do you shoot arrows??" Kagome repeated. "You mean with a bow?" "No..with a pencil!" Kagome's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "What?? Oh, yea. Are you any good?" Inu-Yasha challenged. "Wanna find out?" "Lead the way!" Kagome led Inu-Yasha down to the archery range and handed him a bow and a quiver of arrows. Kagome took of her shoes before taking her bow and arrows. "Ahhhhh.much better." Kagome sighed as her feet touched the cool stone floor, "You first."  
  
Inu-Yasha pulled back the string and shot the arrow. Dead on. He smirked and gave her a look that said: 'your just a girl, you can't do better than that.' Kagome's jaw dropped. She couldn't beat him but she could try to tie. She gave him a look that said: 'I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face, watch me carefully.' Kagome pulled back the string till it was taut and took careful aim. Inu- Yasha considered yelling 'biff!' but decided that that would be unfair. Kagome let the arrow fly. It split Inu-Yasha's arrow down the middle perfectly until it hit the arrowhead that was made of metal. There was a 'tink' as her arrowhead hit his from behind. Inu-Yasha's jaw dropped. Dead on. Kagome stood proudly, made a curtsy and then went to collect her arrow and toss away the now destroyed arrow. "Nice doing business with you." Kagome grabbed his hand and shook it. She then wandered back to the ballroom to say goodnight to her parents. She was tired.  
  
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"You? Beaten?? At archery?" Miroku was quite surprised. "And by a girl too!" Inu-Yasha spat. Kagome froze. She had just finished saying goodnight to her parents and was on her way out of the ballroom when she heard the voice of the guy she had been dancing with all evening. "I didn't know girls were that good!" "She's a princess too!!" Inu-Yasha's bitter voice stung Kagome. "You need to stop stereotyping!" "Keh. I've got to see that it doesn't happen again. Honestly, and by the way she shook my hand it was like she had just won a million dollars." Tears welled up in Kagome's eyes. He had been so nice too. She ran passed him and Miroku (of course she didn't know their names) and flicked a tear at him with out looking. "Uh oh." Miroku stated as he saw the tear she flicked land on Inu-Yasha's hand. Inu-Yasha turned pale. He had had no idea that she had heard him and now he was paying the price of putting down girls. "I'm going to bed." He muttered. Miroku shook his head and wandered off to find Sango.  
  
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Kagome sobbed in her room. How dare he??? She hadn't beaten him anyways. She had just brought herself up to a tie. She had been proud that she had split the arrow too. She'd never done that before. She had just shaken his hand because she thought it would add to her character but he had just gone and messed things up by taking it the wrong way. Keh. Then she smiled evilly as she remembered his face. He could have swallowed a horse in one gulp by the size of his mouth. She decided to put it behind her. If he was jealous because she had tied with him then that was his problem, but for some reason she couldn't get him out of her head. 'He lied,' She thought, 'he really was just another guy blinded by his ego.' Unfortunately for her, this wasn't the last time she was going to see him.  
  
  
  
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WAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Well? How did you like my second chapter?? Please review and don't flame me to badly! Don't worry! I will say this now: this is an IY/Kag fic, k?  
  
I'm going away to Hawaii for 12 days, I think it's from the 11 of Aug. till the 23 so don't expect any updates during that time period, k? ^^ I will try to update before then though!  
  
-Noodals =^.^=  
  
Special thanks to Momori, my dear friend, who edited.  
  
Momori-Awwiiieess!!! I didn't know Inu-Yasha could be so..so.. awfully stupid and sweet at the same time!! ^_^'' Great chapter! I'm completely endorsed in your story!!!! ^______^ Special thanks to Momori, my dear friend, who edited. 


	3. Forgiving

Disclaimer: Inu-Yasha belongs to Kagome IY: No I don't!! Kag: SIT! *WHAM!* IY: curse.you.. Kag: In truth, Ms. Takahashi rules us all....  
  
Your.not so average princess. Chapter three: Forgiving.  
  
  
  
"Inu-Yasha, what's with you?" "You just can't stop pestering me can you mother?" "You were having a brilliant night last night with Princess Kagome, what went wrong?" "I think he went wrong, Majesty." Inu-Yasha glared at Miroku. "I won't ask for details then." Inu-Yasha stared out the window. Why did he have to mess up like that? He didn't usually put down girls like that; it's just that he had never met a girl who wasn't like Kikyo. Kagome had been a first. Inu-Yasha's stomach heaved as the road got bumpier and he nearly puked. He really looked terrible but Miroku only thought Kagome was bothering him and didn't seem to notice the road change. 'When will I see her next?' He wondered. Then he frowned. She still didn't know his name. Didn't she care? He guessed she might have in the beginning but then just plain forgot to ask. 'I could have told her.' He chided himself, 'but if she really wanted to know, she would have asked.'  
  
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At the breakfast table:  
  
"Kagome, what's wrong with you?" Kagome stared into her pancakes. "Kagome?" "What?" "Are you OK?" Everyone at the table looked at her with concern. Well, everyone but Kikyo. (So basically her parents looked at her with concern.) "Yea.I'm fine." She lied. "Good because I have some news." Her father revealed, "Kikyo clearly didn't find anyone that special last night but the person she had slightly more interest in was Prince Sesshomaru." "Daddy that's not true!" Kikyo butt in. He silenced her with a wave of his hand. "It would be good for the trade between Shikon and Tetsusaiga and so, it has been arranged between us and the King and Queen of Tetsusaiga that we shall visit them in a week and stay there for about a month to get to know them." "Then we'll come home and Kikyo can make her final decision." Their mother finished. Kagome didn't really care but that was only because she had no idea that the guy she had been dancing with last night, was Sesshomaru's brother.  
  
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Against her mothers will, Kagome and Sango rode ahead of the carriages on their horses. Kagome was in a very good mood. Why? Because her sister had to marry someone that she barely knew and Kagome could take it slowly...until.well, her mother ordered her to marry..-_- Kagome brushed those thoughts behind her. It was a glorious day and she was not going to let something as stupid as the thought of marriage get in her way. She smiled as the wind picked up and blew her hair out behind her. They had been riding for two and a half days and they were expected to arrive at the castle Tetsusaiga by dinner. Something had been tickling her nose for the past hour. It was in the air but Kagome couldn't make out what it was. It was only till about 4:00 p.m. that Kagome realized what she smelled. They still had about an hour left till they were supposed to arrive at the castle but Kagome ended up shortening that time for her and Sango in half. Sango was just commenting about how pretty the castle was from afar when her friend took off from beside her screaming: "THE SEA!!!! I CAN SMELL THE SEA!!!!!!!!!!!" Sango raced after her friend after madly shouting to the King that she was chasing Kagome who had for some reason gone mad. Kagome's father just sort of shrugged and acted as if that was an everyday thing. Sango's horse went as fast as it could to keep up with Kagome's but it slowed and fell more and more behind. "KAGOME!!!" Sango hollered, hopping to get the princesses attention but to no avail.  
  
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Kagome leapt off her horse (literally) and went splashing into the salty water. She was wearing shorts so she wadded in up to her knees. She actually made it to the sea! Sango finally caught up to her but Kagome didn't even notice that she wasn't alone anymore. Kagome started babbling really fast about how lucky Kikyo was to be able to marry this guy (even though Kagome had had the, err, pleasure of dancing with this guy and wished he didn't exist) and how if he lived 100 yards from the sea he couldn't be that bad. It was when Kagome started babbling about how SHE wished that she was the one getting married to live here that Sango decided to put her friend in her right mind. She conked Kagome on the head and held her up until her eyes finished swirling (anime style). Kagome shook her head. "What's wrong with me?" Kagome asked her lady in waiting. "Sea fever I think." "Rrrright.." "Let's go up to the castle and tell the King and Queen that the carriage should be here in about 20 minutes." "Wha? Castle?" Kagome looks around. Sango pointed at the castle towering right above them. "Oh!" ^.^ "I think it's the sea." Sango decided.  
  
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Inu-Yasha looked out the window. Let's replay what he saw (he was up high so he couldn't quite make out faces, k?): Girl #1 comes racing up on a horse and flies off it as fast as she can leap. Goes madly splashing into the water. Girl #2 comes up listens to what girl #1 has to say and then conks her on the head. Inu-Yasha scratched his head. Of course he didn't recognize Kagome as he couldn't see her face and her hair was back in a ponytail. At the ball, her hair was down.  
  
The two girls trudged up to the castle gaits and handed their horses to a stable boy. Then they went through the gates.  
  
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"The King won't want to see me as a 'peasant' so I gotta find a way to change." "Why don't you just tell him that you were riding and that's why you're dressed the way you are?" Sango innocently asked. Kagome thought about this for a sec."Fine then." So, the two of them wandered into the castle and asked for the King. "Could I speak his majesty please?" Kagome formally asked a guard with a hint of sweetness. "Who wants to see him?" The guard sneered at this 'peasant girl'. Kagome's voice suddenly became very sharp, "Princess Kagome Higurashi of the kingdom Shikon. Please admit me to the King!" She and Sango smirked inwardly as the guard's sneering face wilted into formal apology. "Yes Princess." The guard muttered and scurried away to get the news to the king. In the mean time a squire showed the two girls to their rooms. Kagome whipped out a frill-less, forest green dress. She threw it on and straightened out the wrinkles. Sango reappeared in Kagome's room in a pink dress with her hair in a long French braid. (Momori: O_o SANGO IN A FRENCH BRAID??!!! Noodals: Leave Sango's braid alone!!) Kagome ran a brush through her hair and then grabbed a ribbon and tied her hair back into a ponytail. She smiled sweetly at Sango who smiled as sweetly back. The two of them had no idea that Inu-Yasha and Miroku lived here. They were in for a surprise.  
  
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"So, the King and Queen with their eldest daughter will arrive in roughly 10 minutes?" The King confirmed. "Yes, Majesty." Kagome responded. "Good. Welcome to the Kingdom Tetsusaiga!" he greeted, "You should have been shown your rooms so you are free to wander through the castle grounds. Dinner will be served at six." He dismissed them. "I wonder if they have an archery range?" Kagome asked out loud as they wandered down the hall. "Let's find somebody to ask." Sango suggested. Just then, from down the hall: "Sango? Lady Sango? Do my eyes deceive me or is it really you?" Sango looked down hall and gasped: "Miroku? MIROKU!!!!!" Sango squealed as she dashed down the hall while leaving Kagome coughing in her dust. Sango started babbling about how much she liked dancing with him and how much she had thought about him when he left and blah, blah, blah, blah. 'Yup. She must have been right earlier. It's the sea that's making us weird.' Kagome decided to herself. "Miroku, you couldn't show me to the archery room could you?" Kagome sheepishly asked. "Certainly, fair princess!" He showed her to the range, "let's see you take a shot!" he wanted to see if she really was as good as Inu-Yasha had bitterly described. Kagome hesitated, afraid of the same reaction from Miroku as from the white haired boy she had danced with. She decided to prove it to him so she twanged on the bowstring to test. Good condition. She looked down the arrow she would be using for straightness and then drew back the string. Sango smiled broadly, having total confidence in her friend. Kagome fired the arrow. And Miroku's jaw dropped. Dead on. Again. "Whoa! You really are good!" Kagome smiled a stiff smile. "Thank you for showing me where the range was, Lord Miroku. If you wish, you may take Sango for a walk in the gardens." Kagome suggested, thinking about Sango's favourite place and got just the reaction from her friend as she expected. Sango's eyes sparkled at the thought of a new garden to memorize while she was there. She looked up at Miroku and pleaded with her eyes. His heart melted. "Do like fountains Sango?" He asked her. She was nearly kissing him. "I'd love to see them!" She finally managed to squeak out. He led out an over hyper Sango and left Kagome to her practice (she WAS in a dress). "Yup. It's definitely the sea." Kagome would have signed in blood if there had been a decision to make about their brief craziness. She was glad to be alone. She just wanted to be alone. She didn't know why but she just did. She started firing shots really fast until she was firing five shots in less than 10 seconds and then Inu-Yasha appeared into the room. He stared firstly at the fact that she was firing so fast and second at the fact that she was here (his father had been a bum and only told Sesshomaru about the arrival of Kikyo (and hadn't said a word about Kagome)) It took him a minute to recognize her from her sweaty face and her hair was pulled back but when he did, he blushed and decided to get her attention to apologize to her. He didn't want to make her mad by breaking her concentration because she WAS armed with a bow and highly sharp arrows so. First thing Kagome was firing arrows non-stop and the next she felt something whistle past her ear and then imbed itself on the target she was using. She shrieked with sudden surprise and fell backwards: Only to be caught by someone. She braced herself for the fall but then realized that it was taking her much longer to fall than gravity would allow. "You can open your eyes." A soft voice told her, referring to her squinted eyes. Kagome's eyes slowly opened. She stood up, with the support of her saver. She then turned to face him to thank him but as soon as she saw him her soft, sky-blue eyes turned cold with dread and surprise. "What are YOU doing here??" She shrieked. "That's my line," he said while rubbing his ear from her shriek, "this is MY home." "It is?" Kagome was clearly confused. "Yea." Kagome ran over to wall and hung up the borrowed bow and quiver of arrows and then started to run from the room. "Wait!" Inu-Yasha called to her, "I wanted to apologize to you for what I said about you during the ball." She paused at the doorway, not looking at him and heard him out. Inu-Yasha took a deep breath: if he messed up, it was the end of being able to be friends with a girl who liked to DO things. "I'm sorry for, for, saying that you shouldn't be able to do things just because you're a girl. It was stupid to stereotype but, it's just that I've never met a girl who had been good at anything like that." She looked up at him. Was he being serious?? He didn't look like the apologetic type. Inu-Yasha looked over at the target she had been firing at and looked at the twenty shots she had been shooting at rapid speed and saw how they all seemed to be sharing the middle of the target. "You sure as hell are good." He added with disbelief. She smiled at him. "What is your name?" He looked at her, slightly surprised at the change of topic. "Inu-Yasha." "Inu-Yasha? I like that." ^ ^  
  
::Uneasy pause::  
  
"So.you good with fencing?" He tried to break the tension. Kagome's eyes danced. "Where's the practice room???" She demanded. "You.uh.might want to change into something more suitable for wielding a sword." She looked at her now slightly dirty green dress. "I'll be back." She left and in two seconds she was back in the archery room. "I'm lost! ^ ^'" She blushed. "..." He left the room with her right behind him. "I really am sorry about what I said." "You can make it up to me by making sure I enjoy my stay here!" ^.^ "Ok." "You can start by giving me a good work out in the practice room!" He grinned evilly. "That won't be too hard." Kagome tutted him, as she reached her quarters and found a pair of canvasy Capri's and a tunic, while thinking about the incident he was trying to correct. She hoped he wouldn't diss her for being a girl again. Inu-Yasha wished he hadn't said what he had just said because he didn't want to make the same mistake again. He wouldn't. 'And that's that!' he promised to himself. "Ready!" She appeared from behind her door with her face newly washed and her hair freshly brushed five minutes later. Inu-Yasha instinctively sensed she enjoyed being in Capri's more than in dresses. Just then, Kagome's family came down the hall with a squire in the lead. Kikyo stared at the clothes Kagome was wearing. 'HAS SHE NO MANNERS????' Kikyo felt like leaping out from behind her mother and father and teaching her sister a lesson by showing her what was right to wear in front of a Prince and what wasn't. Kagome and Inu-Yasha respectfully bowed at their passing. "Kagome! There you are! We wondered where you had galloped off to!" Kagome's mother exclaimed. "I see you have found Prince Inu-Yasha!" Kagome's father exclaimed. 'That's pretty obvious dad!' she thought as she smiled outwardly, 'and thanks for telling me he lived here!!' She felt like tackling her dad to the ground but decided to save that for another time. "We'll see you at dinner, dear! You have 30 minutes till I expect you to be in your quarters getting ready." "Yes, mother." Kagome replied. She simply couldn't miss the jealous looks she was getting from Kikyo and Nazuna about HER being with Inu-Yasha and not them and tried hard not to smirk at them. They continued down the hall with the squire pointing at the doors of where they would be staying for a month. "Well, let's go!" Kagome was about to dash down the hall but then remembered that she didn't know where she was going. Inu-Yasha heard the door to Kikyo and Nazuna's room open a crack. He guessed they were peeping on them while they were in the hall so he GRABBED HER HAND and dragged her down the hall and down several flights of stairs to the practice room. 'What? What? What?' She wondered, 'why is he.holding my hand??' He let go of her hand when they got there but she still couldn't stop thinking about it. He led her over to the rack of swords and let her pick as he grabbed his favourite. She picked different swords and tested them, looking for lightweight and easy swing but a good swing that could turn sharply in the air for better maneuvering. She finally found one that seemed to fit just perfect into her hand. She swung it in easy arcs and then turned to Inu-Yasha who had been warming up. "I'm ready!" She exclaimed. They took the 'on guard' stance and then began. 'I'll go easy on her for the first bit.sorta.' He thought as he was instantly on the lookout for openings. 'This guys a piece of cake!' Kagome exclaimed to herself, 'for now anyways.' she remembered what her instructor had taught her from the very beginning: NEVER underestimate your opponent. She had him on the defensive for now and was striking at every possible moment but the tide of the 'battle' started to change as Inu-Yasha challenged her more. Then it changed back as Kagome pressured a little more. 'Geeze! She is definitely not to be under estimated!' he thought, 'she doesn't even look tired!' he thought as he started to sweat some more. Kagome was far from not being tired but she had her own way of not showing she was tired until the very end when her muscles screamed and begged for mercy. Otherwise she didn't even notice her body tiring. "Had enough?" Kagome taunted. Inu-Yasha shook his head but that only made him dizzy and he fell over. She pointed her sword at his throat: "GAME!" she screamed out with triumph and then her muscle gave way. She collapsed next to him on the ground. "Well,*gasp* it looks like I'm not *gasp* doing so bad in giving you a good *gasp* workout, eh?" *pant, pant* "*GASP* You're doing*gasp, pant* just fine!" She responded while looking for water. Inu-Yasha tossed her a flask he had on the bench against the wall that had water in it. She sucked the life out of it trying to get more water into her than she could handle and then passed it to Inu-Yasha who then did the same. "Thanks!" She said as she wiped her mouth. "We should probably go and get ready for dinner." Inu-Yasha suggested. "Yea." Kagome bluntly agreed as she dreamed of a bath to wash the dirt of her body and out of her hair. Inu-Yasha led her up to her room and Kagome memorized a little more of the halls as they went up this time. "Thanks." Kagome ran into her bathroom to start running it. "I'll be here in twenty minutes to take you to the dinning room.unless you can make it on your own." Inu-Yasha offered. She smiled at him as she started pouring bubble mix into the tub. "Thank you. I don't want to be late for dinner so I would appreciate it if you showed me the way." "I'll be here. Don't dress too formally," he joked. She snorted. She wouldn't dress formally unless it was an order. He left her to undress and bathe. 'He really didn't end up being too bad.' she thought in the back of her mind as she slipped into the tub, 'I wonder if he'll take me sailing sometime.' The thought of the ocean thrilled her as she started massaging her head with shampoo (they had mango smelling stuff in her bathroom and she didn't bring her rose stuff. No, she didn't know what a 'mango' was that's just what it smelled like). Nothing could shatter her mood for now.  
  
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Inu-Yasha appeared at her door as she finished spraying herself with the perfume at her dresser. "Ready?" he didn't let him emotions travel to his face but on the inside he was thinking, 'I can't believe she can be so pretty as well as active. She is an amazing girl.' Kagome smiled which almost made Inu-Yasha start staring. "I'm ready." Her hair was brushed with her hair back (in that sort of style where the top of her hair is pulled back but the lower half of the hair on her head is flowing. I don't know the name of this style obviously or I would have just said the name of it. I suppose it's like a half ponytail). She was wearing a pretty dress that was the colour that brought out her eyes the most: blue. They stepped out of her room and Inu-Yasha started leading her down the hall when a voice started cawing from behind them. "Well you two seem to be very close!" Kagome and Inu-Yasha looked behind them and saw Kikyo coming after them with Nazuna following like a dog. "Aren't you two lovers going to show us the way to dinner?" Kagome flared up. "WE AREN'T BLOODY LOVERS YOU SICK-MINDED FREAK!!" Inu-Yasha looked at Kagome with surprise. It wasn't what she said because they weren't lovers at all (yet) and Kikyo probably was a sick-minded freak, but it was her boldness to yell at her older sister like that. Kikyo just smirked which surprised Inu-Yasha even more. Was this what life at their castle was like?? His brother wouldn't let him eat another meal if he yelled at him like that and called him a sick-minded freak. Inu-Yasha would have been pounded to the floor but then it occurred to him that if Kikyo tried to do that to Kagome, Kikyo would have been pounded easily instead. "Come on Kagome.stop yelling at useless things," he muttered, Kikyo's jaw dropped, "I mean, the wind isn't going to answer you." He finished. Kagome snorted and managed to turn it into a coughing fit. "Let's go." She agreed. Kikyo and Nazuna started humming the tune to 'here comes the bride' and where doing this sort of jig thing behind Kagome and Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha was starting to get really annoyed and embarrassed as they passed squires and servants so he started cracking his knuckles in a flexing sort of way and that caused the three girls to look at his hands and notice that he had longer nails than the ordinary man would. They were also filed to a point, which really scared Nazuna. Kikyo was being herself, thinking how he could protect her if she got him to like her. Kagome wasn't really thinking about anything in particular but she had this feeling that Inu-Yasha would never use them to harm her. "Oh listen, Kagome.Aren't they so selfish? Singing their own wedding tune." "Leave it for the piano girls." Kagome yelled back at them. At that point they came to a set of double doors. "Ladies, the dining hall." Inu-Yasha said as the double doors were opened for them.  
  
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Dinner was going fine. Sango and Miroku flirted at one end, Kagome and Inu- Yasha talked nearby, while Kikyo was getting acquainted with Sesshomaru. Nazuna was the only one who was looking for a guy to ensnare. She looked at Miroku with interest (sad, isn't it.) Sango was instantly on alert when she saw Nazuna look Miroku's way. Miroku could sense that a girl was watching him so he glanced up. Nazuna smiled sweetly at him, or tried to.Miroku tried to smile back, really he did, but his smile was so forced that it came out at a smirk. That only confused Nazuna. Kagome and Inu-Yasha were talking softly and were keeping an ear out for conversation elsewhere as well. "So, do you do archery?" Sesshomaru's silky voice made Kagome shiver. She was glad that he was talking to Kikyo. "No, it's too strenuous. It's for men." Kagome flinched. "Do you ride horses?" "Sometimes." "Do you sail?" "I've never been on a boat before." "I'll have to take you sailing sometime! You're hair would look pretty if it were flying out behind you!" *flatter, flatter* Kikyo blushed on purpose (I didn't know someone could do that.). "Do you play croquet?" Kikyo brightened, "Oh yes! I love croquet! It's the best sport!" "Sport?" Kagome muttered to Inu-Yasha. "I could hit a home run with a croquet mallet." he replied. "Look at Nazuna!" Kagome nodded her head towards her sister's lady-in- waiting. Inu-Yasha glanced at her. Nazuna had a frightfully big predatory look on her face. Inu-Yasha followed her gaze and nearly laughed. She was still looking at Miroku. Kagome almost got up to tell her to give it up. Sango had her eye on Miroku and nobody was going have him except for her. Sango would definitely see to that. "Watch out." She muttered to Lady Sango and Lord Miroku. "I'm already on guard!" Sango replied. 'I won't be taken away from Sango! I won't, I won't, I won't, I won't!' Miroku furiously repeated in his head. When dessert was finished Kagome excused herself to go for a walk. "Don't go too far!" Her mother warned. Inu-Yasha soon after excused himself and went outside. Kikyo was too absorbed with being flattered by Sesshomaru (call me Sesshy) (Momori: lol.Noodals: If he told me to call him Sesshy, I'd kick his a$$ to Australia.and I'd give him 10 cents for him to mail me a postcard.) to notice that her sister had disappeared and then that Inu-Yasha followed her out.  
  
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Kagome was walking along the beach, her letting the tide lick at her feet. She had taken her hair out so that it was flying behind her. Her dress was also flowing with the breeze she was walking into. Inu-Yasha came up behind her. "You look pretty in the wind, at night." He told her. She smiled, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. 'She's so pretty,' he couldn't stop thinking, 'I think I want to kiss her.AAAAH! STOP IT BRAIN, STOP!! WHY WOULD I WANT TO KISS HER???' 'Because you think you like her?' the other side of his brain told him. "Kagome." She looked up at him.  
  
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WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! AREN'T I EVIL??? So.will he kiss her? Or will he make a complete fool out of himself?  
  
Wait and see.  
  
K, I don't think I'll have access to a computer in Hawaii so this fic won't be updated till I get back on the 23rd. I will take the time to keep writing the fourth chapter in Hawaii on paper and then I will take the long, painful time to type it up on my computer.  
  
Enjoy your summer! -Noodals (a.k.a. Kirara kitty) =^.^=  
  
Momori: HAHA! I love Kikyo's actions. HAHA.okay, good job!! I loved it!!! 


	4. Horses!

Disclaimer: Inu-Yasha doesn't belong to me ::curls up and cries:: IY: Eh? St-st-STOP CRYING!!!! Noodals: ::Sticks out tongue and bawls louder::  
  
  
  
WHEEEEE!!! I'M BACK!!! And I had a great time on my trip to Hawaii! *sigh* but if you ask me what I did there I'm afraid that I will only be able to say that I snorkeled.and If I see one more mask, snorkel or pair of flippers I'm gonna drown someone. And it would be plain cruel to start dangling that kind of stuff right in front me but just out of my reach so that a match could not reach it.anyways, enough of my babbling about destroying objects of torture! ^^' As I said I would (sometime, somewhere.), I found time to write while in Hawaii AND I managed to copy what I wrote to a computer (Many thanks to my dear daddy who brought his laptop!!). So.I ended up writing the whole of chapter 4 and I hope you like it!  
  
Ok! This chapter has mainly to do with horses, however! I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge on horses!!! It just goes to show how much I do research before I write about it.. Next, please don't kill me for the beginning of this chapter! I promise to reward you for it later in this chapter!!  
  
  
  
Chappy 4 Horses!  
  
"Kagome." She looked up at him. He bent down to kiss her, as the breeze flowed through their hair, but she looked into his eyes.and he froze.  
  
::Uneasy pause.::  
  
"Yes, Inu-Yasha?" "..." "..." "err..there's.there's a-a-a-a FLUFF in your hair!!" He randomly yelled out to save his dignity. "Oh." She let him pick out the imaginary fluff. 'Was he going.going to.*sigh*. of course I probably would have smacked him.it's too early in the game for me.but.I've never been.. never been.' 'She sounded almost disappointed.' Inu-Yasha observed. Kagome looked to the sea. She now knew why she loved it. It sparkled no matter if it was the sun or the moon hitting it. It was cool and refreshing. Yes.she loved the sea. Inu-Yasha stood behind her and looked out too. SOMEHOW Inu-Yasha's hand found Kagome's (or Kagome's found Inu-Yasha's) and they.just sort of.started walking down the beach, hand in hand.Kagome's head.just.ended up on Inu-Yasha's shoulder. 'Her head seems to fit there.' he tilted his head onto hers, 'she smells.good.' somehow his mind wandered off to wondering if she tasted as good as she smelled but he pushed the thought from his mind. 'Comfy shoulder.' Kagome's thoughts passed through her head. Tonight could last forever for as long as she cared.  
  
Of course.all good things come to an end but something's end better than others. A good night ending because of Sesshomaru isn't a good way to end things. "Well, well, pardon me for disrupting the romantic atmosphere but mother says it's time for bed!" (He put the emphasis on the word romantic. I would make the word in italics for emphasis but I still haven't figured how to make it appear on the web still in italics). "Eh? Mother says?? Would you PLEASE make up you mind! I thought it was FATHER says." Inu-Yasha put on a confused face. Sesshy slapped his forehead. He needed to compose his speeches better before talking to his younger, pesky, brother. Kagome snorted, "I thought it was Simon says." not even knowing she was contributing to the building annoyance of Sesshomaru. "Mother expects you to be in bed in half an hour." Sesshomaru finished, curtly. He whirled around and headed back to the castle thinking about how he could save Kagome from Inu-Yasha poisoning her mind with his immatureness (he really thought Kagome was being influenced.::rolls eyes::). "I'm sorry to say, but your brother makes me sick!" Kagome spat. "He's made me sick to many times to count. I think it was since I could say my own name that he made want to gag." Inu-Yasha agreed. They looked at each other for a moment longer. Kagome smiled and then they turned back to the castle.still hand in hand.and neither of them noticed the jealous face in a window watching them.  
  
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"You two seemed to be having a good time." Kagome jumped as she finished lighting the candle. "Kikyo?" Kikyo was standing at one of Kagome's windows. "You'll have to introduce me sometime." And with that she turned and left. Kagome stared. She had never gotten that close to a boy before and her sister knew it. Kikyo had some nerve to maybe distract Inu-Yasha. 'If I don't start acting like I enjoy his company completely, he might switch me more Kikyo!' Kagome thought in horror. Then she simmered down. 'Well, if he's dense enough to go for my sister than I don't want him!' she decided. "You do look like you just had a good time." Kagome glanced up at the door. "Oh, hi Sango-chan! How's Miroku?" Sango blushed, "How did you know I was with Miroku?" Kagome stared. "It's only a little obvious!!" She exclaimed. "Oh.well it was wonderful!! We spent more time in the gardens and he showed me these amazing waterfallish fountains and there were so many pretty flowers and he-" "Inu-Yasha and I had a great night." Sango stopped short. "So.what happened???? Don't leave me hanging here!!" Kagome sighed. Sango: "..." Kag: "What? Oh! ^ ^" "Get it out already!!" Sango harped. "We were on the beach." "A great place." Sango put in. "The waves were washing over our feet." "Good to keep in touch with nature." "We were holding hands." Sango was full attention. "And.somehow my head ended up on his shoulder." Sango gasped, "Really??" "And his head leaned on mine." Sango clasped her hands waiting for when she would tell about the kiss. "And then Sesshomaru showed up." Kagome's voice suddenly changed from dreamy to bitter. "WHAT?? NO KISS?????" Kagome looked at Sango. "No, no kiss." "But.but the scenario was so perfect!!" "Except that we hardly know each other." "Right.I knew that.::whistles innocently::" ".-_-." "Uh.Goodnight?" "That's right Sango.Goodnight!" Sango left Kagome's room and closed the door behind her to leave Kagome to her thoughts.  
  
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"Lessons?" Kagome stared at her mother in disbelief, "But it's EARLY AUGUST!!" Inu-Yasha dropped his fork, stared, and the sniggered into his orange juice. Kagome glared at him. "And it's not like I failed last year! I passed with straight A's!" Kagome continued her debate as she shoveled her breakfast into her mouth. "Except for math," Kikyo smirked, "You failed that!" "Kikyo.if you consider a B+ a failing grade then you failed everything." Kagome said with a point. "Well you got below a C in something." Kikyo tried hard to remain higher than her younger sister. "The B+ in math was my lowest grade, Kikyo. If anyone needs summer schooling it's you. That report card was nauseating. You'll bring disgrace to the royal family!" Kagome hissed as she recalled the report card she found while rummaging through her sisters room. "Kagome!" her mother was shocked. Kikyo shooter her a nasty glare and Inu-Yasha gave her a look that said, ' The-high-and-mighty-Kikyo-needs-summer-schooling??' Kagome responded with a knowing look that said, 'I-kid-you-not, and-isn't- it-surprising?' "Now, now, stop BICKERING!!!!!" Kagome and Kikyo's mother screeched the last word and then continued in her happy-go-lucky voice. "Your lessons will begin on Monday!" she said cheerily. 'Three days.' Kagome thought. It was Friday. "May I be excused, mother? I would like to enjoy my last few days of freedom." Kagome said politely but bitterness could be detected. "Certainly, dear. And I'd wipe that smirk of my face Inu-Yasha," her mother warned and Inu-Yasha looked at her with question, "Your mother likes my idea so you and your brother will be joining my daughters with their early schooling." Inu-Yasha's sneering grin snapped of his face and was replaced with a look of dread. It was Kagome's turn to smirk.  
  
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"Your mom is a bad influence on mine." Inu-Yasha sulked. Kagome skipped a stone across the low tide ocean water. She was a fast learner when it came to physical activities. "Whatever," she said, "I wonder how my sad excuse for a sister is getting along with your overly scary brother." "I heard they were going riding together." "Are you serious??" "Why?" "Do you seriously think that Kikyo can ride a horse??" Inu-Yasha thought about this for a second.and just a second. "Would I be a fool to even consider that she had a horse of her own?" Yes, you would be." "Ah. Well then! What are we waiting for? Let's go find the early morning entertainment!" "It's free too! I'm right behind you!" "Ladies first!" Inu-Yasha preformed a mocking bow with a grin. "How about ladies first when the lady knows where she's going." Kagome waited for it to dawn on him.it didn't happen. "Eh?" She sighed at his slight stupidity, "I Don't Know Where The Stables Are!!" "Oh!" "Lead on, oh smart one!" "Right-O!" he gave her a slightly embarrassed smile and then led the way.  
  
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"Do you like our stables, Lady Kikyo?" "Well, I don't know about stables but these are well kept." Her nose MUST have been plugged. It stank of horse manure. Sesshy had a satisfied look on his face. (as he adjusted his gas mask.NOT!) "Please, pick the horse you would like to ride, sweet maiden." Sesshy instructed. Kikyo giggled and was instantly attracted to a creamy, off- white horse (Please forgive my lack of knowledge on horses! I love 'em but I don't know the different types or anything so for all you smarter horse lovers out there, please don't flame me for this!). "Ah! You have chosen.Eggnog!" Sesshy exclaimed with pride. They both looked up as the stable doors opened. A stable boy entered and Sesshy's face darkened as Inu-Yasha followed but lightened as Kagome entered after. Kikyo's face, however, lightened as Inu-Yasha entered but darkened as Kagome followed. "Oh! Are you guys going riding too?" Kagome's face was a mask of false surprise. She was good at hiding her emotions with false ones. "Your sister was just picking a horse. Would you like to join us?" Sesshy tried to make his voice sound intriguing and seductive but instead he nearly scared her away. "Uh.Well." Kagome fought the urge to run away. "Thank you." Inu-Yasha interrupted as the stable boy brought his and Kagome's horse to them, saddled up and ready to ride. "Saddle Up Eggnog!!" Sesshy snapped at the stable boy. "OH THAT POOR HORSE!!" Kagome exclaimed before she could stop herself. "Who named him???" Inu-Yasha asked with bewilderment. "It's a she." Sesshy replied with annoyance. "IT IS??? WHAT BONEHEAD WOULD CALL A FEMALE HORSE, EGGNOG???" Inu-Yasha was amazed. "I CALLED HER THAT BECAUSE I LIKE EGGNOG!! IT'S THE BEST DRINK FOR THE WINTER TIME!!" "WHEN DID WE GET A NEW HORSE?? WHEN DID YOU NAME HER??" "WE GOT HER THREE WEEKS AGO AND I CALLED HER THAT!! YOU DON'T LIKE IT? YOU FIX IT!!!" "I KNOW!!" Kikyo screamed, "Creamy!!!" "Creamy??? You think that's a BETTER name than EGGNOG??" Inu-Yasha asked. "I would call her Caramel." Kagome softly said as she pet the horses nose. It whinnied gently. Both boys stopped fighting. "Caramel?" Sesshy said with amusement. "It's a brilliant name!!" Inu-Yasha exclaimed. "Of course it is!" Sesshy instantly agreed. He liked Kagome better than Kikyo for these reasons: she was prettier, more active and she was smarter. "Make a horse tag with the name Caramel on it!" Sesshy barked at a passing servant who rushed to obey. "What's your horses name, Kagome?" Inu-Yasha asked. "Her name's Raven." She answered. "Raven? But that's a type of bird!" Sesshy laughed with absolute stupidity.  
  
"But Ravens are BLACK aren't they?" Kagome pointed at her horses pure black hair. "Oh.right." "You just don't have it with names today, do you?" Inu-Yasha teased his big brother. "Shut up!! What's your horse's name, hmm?" "You know what her name is." "I forget." "You're sad." "JUST TELL ME!!"  
  
Inu-Yasha looked at his white horse: the same colour as his hair. "It's Tigerlily." "Tigerlily?? What kind of a name is that?? I'd almost say Eggnog was better." "It's a beautiful name." Kagome turned her nose up at Sesshy. "It's simply GORGEOUS!!" (She had five cups of coffee this morning) Kikyo started bouncing around, leaping on Inu-Yasha and Caramel reared in fright. Kikyo then screamed in fright and ran out of the stables and under her bed. No one ran after her. Kagome swung her leg up over Raven and Sesshy looked around expectantly for his horse. "WHERE'S ALLSPICE???????" He hollered. Kagome fell off her horse anime style. A stable boy dashed down the isle to a stall with a russet brown, female horse. "Allspice?" Kagome stared. "You have a better name in mind??" "You like eggnog, so does Nutmeg sound good?" Kagome suggested as she swung back up onto Raven. "Nutmeg.Thank you Lady Kagome!" his voice turned silky again and Kagome got scared all over again. "Let's go!" she whispered fiercely to Inu-Yasha. "See you around.Fluffy!" Inu-Yasha called and ignored the cursing and threats from his brother. Kagome fell off her horse again. "You don't stay up on your horse well, do you?" Inu-Yasha teased. "F-f-f-fluffy??" "Yup! That's been his nickname since he started carrying that boa around like a security blanket: age 6!" "And he's about to turn 17??" "Yup." "Scary." "He is." They rode towards the edge of the woods when a bee landed on Raven's nose. The horse went crazy and started running madly. "KYAAAAAAAAA!!!!! HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" Kagome screamed out. Inu-Yasha needed no second bidding. Tigerlily took off after the princess and her runaway horse. Kagome knew she could stay on her horse.it was if the horse went into the woods she would have bigger problems. "Please don't go into the woods!" she cooed softly in Raven's ear, trying to calm her, "please don't go into the woods, please don't go into the woods. Please don't. Please don't. Please don't...shit." Kagome's horse looked like it was having a nervous breakdown as it turned into the woods. Hell, Kagome was having a nervous breakdown. Inu-Yasha cursed as he saw the midnight black horse turn into the woods but he quickly followed her in. It was crazy, he knew, but he couldn't leave her alone with a horse that belonged in loonyland especially as she didn't know her way around and she probably would get lost when her horse calmed down. Well.that was what he was telling himself, but deep down there was something else that made him want to save her. He could quite place it, even though there was a voice inside telling him just what he was thinking about her but he continued to tell the voice to shut up.  
  
IY's mind: hang on Kagome! I'll get there on time. IY's lil annoying voice in the back of his head: Why do you want to save her, eh? What's so special about her? IY: Shut up! I don't have time for you! Lil voice: Oh? Come on! I know why you want to save her. IY: Oh really? Inform me. Mistake. Lil voice: You LOVE her!! IY: WHAT??? NOIDON'T!! Lil voice: You're blushing!! IY: I'm trying to save her!! Lil voice: and we're back to the beginning.why do you want to- IY: SHUT UP!! Lil voice: *snigger* Inu-Yasha turned beet red. Lil voice: Well, I'll just leave you to save her, lover boy! IY: I'll take you on some other time. Lil voice: later.  
  
Just then, Kagome's horse saw a skunk. This was not Raven's day. Or Kagome's. The horse reared with surprise just as Inu-Yasha's horse caught up. Kagome was taken completely by surprise and was thrown off. She went sailing thought w air and braced herself for the fall. Inu-Yasha leapt off his horse and ran to catch her. Of course he caught her. Princess style! As soon as she felt him holding her under her knees and supporting her back, she clutched onto him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her face buried into his shoulder. "Thank you for following me," she whimpered, "and nice catch." She added weakly. She started to cry now that she was safe and he put her feet down and then just held her until she calmed down. "Kagome." She looked up at him. (sound familiar?) "I will always try to catch you and be there for you.that's a promise." She was unsure of how to respond because the now waffy moment was new to her. She didn't have to respond. (Hehehe) He put his lips to hers and it wasn't a quick kiss! They stood there together in the middle of the clearing as the wind blew their hair around. They didn't notice a thing around them. Not even- "Well, well, well.sorry for interrupting but I heard a maiden's cry for help." The evil, terrifying, totally unsuductive, petrifying, scary, disgustingly silky voice reached their ears (did I miss any? If you have any more words to describe Sesshy's voice then make a list on your reviews and I will try to add some of them ^__^). Kagome and Inu-Yasha paid no attention to him. In fact, their tongues started snaking in and out of each other's mouth.right in front of Sesshy! Sesshomaru moved closer to the two kissing in the woods.much closer. "You're not a very good kisser Inu-Yasha." He taunted. 'I'll bet you've never kissed in your life,' Inu-Yasha thought, 'and damn! She does taste good!' his thoughts flowed back to the night on the beach when he wondered if she tasted a good as she smelt, 'she sure is gorgeous too.' Inu-Yasha took in everything about her. "You should try kissing me sometime Kagome," Sesshy continued in his annoying, so-called voice. She flicked up her middle finger at him telling him to get-the-hell-out-of- here, can't-you-see-I'm-busy?? And he was so close that her finger nearly went up his nose. Instead, her nail poked his cheek hard and drew blood! (::starts waving flags that say 'GO KAGOME!!!'::) Sesshy drew back from her with a start. "Bitch! Do you know how long I had my face in a mud mask this morning to make my face perfect??" He hollered. Kagome and Inu-Yasha broke apart. "Can you hear something?" Kagome stared romantically up into Inu-Yasha's eyes. "The wind must be acting up." He stared back into her crystal blue eyes. Sesshy brought his face right next to Kagome's ear: "BITCH!!" he screeched. "You must have mistaken me for someone else," Kagome's eardrums were ringing, "I'M NOT KIKYO!!" she screamed back. "Kikyo?" Inu-Yasha looked at her, "I thought he was bragging about himself." "Leave him to boast to the trees. I'm leaving." Inu-Yasha followed Kagome out of the clearing. "Come on Kagome," Sesshy whined from the clearing, "I'll make a better man than him! Be MY woman!" (He was influenced by Kouga. -_-*) Kagome stopped short and whirled around. Inu-Yasha squeaked and jumped out of the princess's way. "I am NOBODIES WOMAN!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, "WHY DO THINK I DETEST THE WORD 'MARRAGE'? HUH?? I'LL TELL YOU WHY! IT'S BECAUSE IF I MARRY, I'LL BELONG TO MY PRINCE! I'M A FREE GIRL WHILE I'M SINGLE!!! You understand now?" her voice became deadly calm, "That's why I'm so picky about men. If I could find someone who could accept a girl who could shoot an arrow straight, draw a sword right, race on horses, climb trees and run miles, then I would CONSIDER them. He also needs to be understanding, sweet, willing to stand up for me and be able to not look stupid while doing it! Prince Kouga nearly past the test except he was a jackass with no brain!" "And he looks stupid." Inu-Yasha muttered. "Lord Hojo had a chance except her had a problem with the way I dressed.and he was a jackass too. Do you FINALLY UNDERSTAND????" "Do I have a chance of passing your test?" Sesshy's silky voice made her cringe. "NO! WHY?? BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST LIKE KOUGA!!" Sesshy looked confused. "She's calling you a jackass." Inu-Yasha translated to his half-wit brother. "Ah! Wait, WHAT??" Sesshy finally understood. But Kagome was already out of the clearing. She grabbed Raven's reins and tossed Tigerlily's to Inu-Yasha. She swung onto Raven before Inu-Yasha even caught the reins she had tossed to him. Kagome bolted out of the woods before anyone could stop her. Inu-Yasha noted the look of furry on her face and decided to keep his distance but then he could have sworn she was crying. He debated whether or not to go after her. The voice in his head returned.  
  
IY: Should I go after her or not. She looked sad and alone but I'm afraid she'll bite me if I get too close to her. Lil voice: Go after her! She needs you! IY: You again? Lil voice: yup, you'd better believe it! IY: I believe it all to well. Lil voice: Any way, you should go after her. She's too good a girl to give up. IY: I'm NOT giving her up!! What makes you think that?? Lil voice: nothing. Just.go help her. IY: *sigh* which direction did she go? Lil voice: Oh I don't know!! You're helpless! IY: I'M helpless?? Lil voice: JUST GET HER!! IY: Keh. Lil voice: Later, dude.  
  
'It's like he just hangs me up!' Inu-Yasha thought. He took off after Kagome and on his way out of the forest he saw Nutmeg waiting for Sesshomaru to return. Inu-Yasha took out his riding crop and smacked the horse on the butt. Nutmeg jump, whinnied, and then followed Inu- Yasha. He broke into a gallop as Sesshy emerged from the woods.  
  
"HEY!! HORSE STEALER!!! I'LL GET YOU WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE CASTLE!! I'LL HAVE KAGOME, I WILL!! HEY!! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?? HEY!!" Inu-Yasha ignored his brother's threats and he went back to the castle. When he returned, he gave Nutmeg to a stable boy and then switched horses to give Tigerlily a rest. He picked a young, gray, male horse with a few white spots on its rump. His name was Storm after his nature of being able to ride at any time of day in any weather. He was quickly saddled up and Inu-Yasha took off out of the castle. He had a vague idea where Kagome might be. As he neared the sea, he looked up at the cliffs and saw a lone figure sitting up there. A horse was not visible but they couldn't make it up some of the rocks leading there. A regular lady like Kikyo couldn't have either but Kagome, Sango, and any other girl who wanted to could. As Inu-Yasha neared the woods at the base of the cliff, he spotted Raven tied to a tree. He leapt off Storm and tied him near Raven. Inu-Yasha followed the narrow path until it suddenly jutted upwards into a short stonewall. Inu-Yasha climbed it with ease and then walked the slightly ramped walk to the edge. Kagome looked up at him as he neared and he saw her face was slightly tear- stained. She turned back to the sea and watched the birds wheel and call overhead. "You weren't crying, were you Kagome?" Inu-Yasha teased lightly. "Of course not!" she sniffed to clear her nose, "I just got something in my eye." "Both eye's at once?" "It doesn't happen that often.maybe once in a blue moon...but yes it happens." He sat down next to her.right next to her.^.^ "Do you're eye's often leak that much?" "There was something big in my eyes." "Both at once, though?" "ALL RIGHT! I WAS CRYING!!!!!!" Inu-Yasha sat wide eyed and wished he hadn't been so persistent. "I'm sorry." She sniffed in response and he passed her a handkerchief. "I think I understand why you were crying.I certainly understand why you were angry earlier." "You're brother it such an ASS!!!" she yelled (the last word). He put his arm around her and she leaned against him. For almost no reason at all except for the fact that being a woman was so unfair to her, she started to cry all over again (Girls! Please understand the circumstances! Being a Girl is GREAT! It's just the fact that where she is, people OWN women.disgraceful isn't it?) She tried to hide it from him but she sniffled and then had to burry her face into his side. Awkward as it was, they managed to embrace but then she stood up and he did too. Then.She flung herself at him. ^ ^ They stood there together in embrace (not kissing.I'm sorry), alone on the cliff. Inu-Yasha knew with comfort that Sesshy would not follow them up, as it was too rocky for him.  
  
Down on the beach.  
  
"Well.it's not exactly private but they certainly are alone." Miroku commented as he stared up at them. "Tell me about it." Sango shielded her eyes from the sun, "of course, when you're in love, nothing matters except for that person and.yea." Sango caught herself blushing. "Personal experience, Lady Sango?" "Well.err.I, uh, guess." *blush, blush* "Then Let's Kiss Before The World!!!" Miroku exclaimed. *blush, blush*  
  
Back up on the cliff.  
  
Kagome stared over Inu-Yasha's shoulder and saw Sango with Miroku. She smiled, despite her tears. 'Sango is so lucky.' She thought, 'It doesn't really matter if Sango is in love or not.I guess I'm lucky at the fact that the guy who loves me as much as I love him is a prince and I'm allowed to marry- WOA!! GEEZE!! WHAT PUT THAT THOUGHT INTO MY MIND??? I am supposed to get married.and he is.top.on my list.but Sango doesn't have two guys fighting for her and I guess that that's what I'm jealous of.' Inu-Yasha caught sight of Miroku snogging Sango. (I love that word.Snogging.hehehe...and for those of you who have NOT read Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, Snogging means Kiss.not what ever some of you sick people were thinking of.and by the way I recommend Angus, Thongs and FFS and the rest of the books in the series! ^ ^) 'Miroku is so lucky,' Inu-Yasha thought, 'he doesn't have another guy after Sango even if Medusa or whatever her name is has a big liking for him.Kagome.she smells so good.she's such a great girl.she loves to have fun doing stuff that other girls don't like.that's what puts her above anyone else.I think.I'm.in.what's the word? Love? *snort* Keh.' "Are you okay now?" he asked her softly. Kagome wiped her eyes and nodded. "I don't belong to you but I'll still be your girl.if that made any sense at all." "Err.I think.I get it." "The sea is calling me," Kagome said, trying to change the subject, "wanna go to the beach?" "Sure! I can show you how to snorkel if you want. We get all kinds of colourful fish around here!" "All right.but I really want to learn how to build a sandcastle!" "You don't know how.Oh!" Inu-Yasha completely forgot that she had never been in the ocean before. Well, except for when she first smelt the salt when she first got here but that doesn't count. "Will you show me how?" she pleaded with her eyes. "Of course!!" "Yay! Let's go then!!" "Uh.did you bring a bathing suit? I mean.you've never been to the sea before so you'll need one." "Oh! Yea. I have quite a few bathing suits because I have a pond back in Shikon." "Good! I'm not a big shopper so you would have had to go with someone else." "Bah! I would have dragged you along anyways whether you wanted to come or not!" she grinned devilishly as they clambered down the wall. 'I probably would have come anyway with out you dragging me.' Inu-Yasha thought. He was about to give her instructions to get down the short stonewall but when he looked up she was already beside him. He stared. It had taken him a week to perfect coming down that and this was her first time down and she had made it all by herself! "Stop gaping like a fish! It doesn't make you look all that intelligent!" "Keh. You'll find out just how talented I am on Monday." "I'd rather wait to find out in September when school naturally starts." "But you'll be back in Shikon by then. You aren't staying for ever you know, just a month. Remember?" Kagome looked up at him and remembered the deal that their parents had set up. She was only staying for about.four weeks now. 'I'm going to miss him when I leave.' She thought solemnly. Just then they reached their horses. But only one of them was there. About 50 feet from them was Sesshy on Inu-Yasha's horse and he was laughing madly. Or trying to, I should say. With a voice like Sesshy's, you can't make it do anything you want to. "WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! YOU TOOK MY HORSE, SO I'M GONNA TAKE YOURS!!! NOW YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WALK BACK!! DWAHAHAHAHAHA!!" "YOU KNOW, SESSHY, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS (he said sarcastically as he slapped his palms to his knee's and started mocking Sesshy) IF YOU HAD OF TAKEN BOTH HORSES. THEN I WOULD HAVE HAD TO WALK LIKE YOU DID!!" "Eh?" Sesshy stared in confusion (as usual). Kagome climbed on to Raven and Inu-Yasha smirked as he climbed up behind Kagome and put his arms around her waist to.uh.hold on. ^.^ (K, I don't care if you need a different saddle or two saddles or a really, really long horse to do this, but Inu-Yasha managed to climb on behind Kagome and fit.) Kagome put Raven in to a gallop and as they passed the staring idiot (Sesshy), Kagome took out her riding crop and slapped Storm on the rump. Storm reared, therefore knocking Sesshy off, and then galloped after the couple. "HEY!! HEY!!! WAIT FOR ME!!! THAT'S NOT FUNNY!! REALLY IT ISN'T!! WAIT FOR ME!!!! *gasp* MY OUTFIT!! YOU KNOCKED ME INTO THE MUD! HEY!!!!!!" Kagome smirked as Inu-Yasha transferred from Raven to Storm (Raven was tired and couldn't hold two people). 'Let Fluffy sulk!' she thought savagely. And they rode back to the castle to prepare for the beach.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Well? How's that for an "I'm sorry that we have to go back to school" present? I actually have a lot of chapter five already written so.if you all give me good reviews, then I shall work faster to finish it! ^_______________^ *bribe, bribe* Thanks to all of my faithful reviewers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^.~  
  
-Noodals =^.^= 


	5. Castle Wars!

Disclaimer: I WISH I owned Inu-Yasha...but I don't. (sniffle)  
  
  
  
Request: PLEASE READ THIS PARAGRAPH BELOOOOOOOOOW~!  
  
  
Okay~! First off I'd like to make an apology to all of you who have been waiting so long for this chapter! Another thing is that I'm quite amazed at the amount of reviews I'm getting! I have 83 for four chapters!! That's the same amount I have for my 8 chapter one @.@   
This is a rather short chapter but I wanted to get SOMETHING out. ^^  
  
  
I also hope that this chapter doesn't turn out to be one huge paragraph. I think I fixed that problem!  
  
  
  
  
One other thing!! I'm considering changing my name from Noodals to Kirara. I'm going to let my fans decide so, WHEN you review *cough*, at the bottom of your review please state clearly if you want 'Noodals' or 'Kirara', k? kk!  
  
Read on~!  
  
  
  
Your...not so average princess   
Chapter 5: Castle wars!!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Are you going to the beach too?"   
Kagome looked up as Sango entered the room.   
"Yup! Inu-Yasha's gonna teach me how to build a sandcastle!!"  
"Miroku said he would show me too!" Sango giggled.  
"This is gonna be fun!!!" Kagome squealed as she picked out an aquamarine bikini with white palm prints on it.  
"Soo.......have you gotten any closer??" Sango was beyond curious...even though she HAD seen Kagome on the cliff.  
"Absolutely."  
"Tell!"  
"Later"  
"Evil!!"  
"I know."  
"..."  
"^___^"  
"Let's make a promise!!" Sango stated out of the blue.  
Kagome looked up from brushing her hair.  
"Promise that we'll always come before ANY boy!!"  
"Promise." Kagome smiled sincerely. Not even Inu-Yasha could come between her and Sango.  
They latched pinkies and kissed fists to close the deal.  
"FRIENDS FOREVER!!" Kagome whooped and a couple of birds flew off the window deciding never to perch THERE again. Sango sweatdropped as she wound a blue flower, that contrasted nicely with her hot pink bikini, into her hair. They skipped out of Kagome's quarters and down the beach where the boys where waiting for them.  
  
***  
  
Inu-Yasha and Miroku looked up as they saw the two girls come out of the gates and stared. To the boys, the girls were walking in slow motion with their hair billowing out behind them. As the spellbound boys would have said later, the princess and her lady looked HOT!  
Kagome couldn't believe that the anti-girl Inu-Yasha was looking at her like if a guy came to close to her than he would roast them alive where they stood. In fact it almost scared her....  
"So...are you ladies ready to get down and dirty to make a humungous castle?" Miroku preformed a sweeping bow while holding a pail with several handles protruding from the mouth.  
The girls both gave him a look that said ' what-do-YOU-think?'  
Inu-Yasha nudged Miroku and grinned, "Ask a stupid question..."  
"She didn't give me an answer!" Miroku replied haughtily, "not with words any ways." He added sheepishly. He kneeled in the sand next to Kagome to get started and show her what to do but Sango could have sworn Inu-Yasha growled. Miroku certainly heard something and skittered out of the way before he lost a part of him.  
"You wanna make a BIG castle?" He asked the girls enthusiastically.  
Their eyes did more than gleam.   
"Miroku? Go find some knives and a few spatulas from the kitchens!"  
"Are you sure? They've never touched sand before!"  
"They DO want pretty castles," Inu-Yasha gave him a 'Do-it-for-the-girls. What-can-it-hurt?' look.   
The two ladies were clearly confused, however.  
"We aren't cutting up the sand are we??" Sango stared at all of the tiny grains.  
"I don't think it can get any smaller." Kagome let the sand run through her hands.  
Inu-Yasha laughed a their confusion.  
"Knives are better tools to work with." He explained. "They're sharp so you get finer details when cutting out turrets and windows."  
"Ohhhhh...." They finally understood.   
"Miroku! Would you like me to.....assist you to the kitchens?" Sango batted her eyelashes. How could Miroku refuse? Actually...there's no way he would have refused. ¬.¬  
Sango got up and she and Miroku left the beach for the kitchens.  
  
Kikyo and Sesshomaru were both watching the scene below (from separate rooms) and saw the two unimportant people leave.  
  
'Now's my chance!!" Kikyo thought to herself. 'If I just boast myself in a bikini, I'll having him following me like a dog in no time!!"   
She cackled evilly out loud and Nazuna looked up from her needlepoint, slightly afraid.  
  
'If princess Kagome sees me sunning myself on the beach, she won't resist me!' Fluffy thought madly, completely forgetting that he had just called her a bitch because she drew blood from his perfect face 45 minutes ago...¬.¬  
Selective memory...  
  
***  
  
"Well look who decided to show up." Inu-Yasha's eyes narrowed.  
"Kikyo...the only thing that would make her walk on sand is you. You're in trouble." Kagome sighed.  
"Well now, what are we doing here?" Kikyo sweetly asked.  
  
Ok, time out. I suppose you need a description of what Kikyo 'dearest' looks like on this particular sunny afternoon.   
Picture Kikyo with her hair down, and in a bikini that was a size or two waaaaay too small. It seems to pinch her everywhere and when she takes it off later, she is going to have red marks where any elastic is.  
Now make it the color of two-year-old milk.  
Got that? K, now put two huge black and white targets on her boobs and the words 'THIS is your target!' written in swirly black lettering across her butt.   
I'm not finished yet.  
Now, Kikyo here seemed to think that 4-day-old-picked flowers arranged in her hair without any particular pattern would be attractive. Not really. Her hair look like it had died and you could hardly see her bikini because even though it was a slightly off-white, it was about the same color of her skin. And the black looked like it had been tattooed to her skin. We must remember that this is a VERY tight bikini. Almost spray-painted on, it looked like.  
K then. Back to the story.  
  
Kagome grimaced as she saw Fluffy walking towards them. Then she stared, eyes bulging, as KIKYO sat_in_the_sand.  
"Dear Diary..."Kagome said while still staring at her older sister.  
Inu-Yasha rolled over laughing.  
"What's so funny?" Guess whose silky voice.  
And guess who shuddered...  
"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha sat up while still stifling a grin.  
"HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT MY BRIDE-TO-BE!!" Sesshy bellowed.  
"Excuse me?" Kagome looked at him with a stubborn look.  
Inu-Yasha stopped laughing like a hyena.  
Sesshy looked at Kagome and held out his hand, "Will you marry me?"  
"HELL NO!!" Kagome screamed, "I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU!!"   
Kagome had the strong urge to bite his hand.  
"But I...I feel like I have known you for years!"  
"Are you calling me old?"  
"Even if I was, we will always be young at heart! You and I!!"  
"I hate to disrupt this...atmosphere...but I think I'm gonna puke." Inu-Yasha looked like he was eating something Kikyo had cooked.  
"That makes two of us." Kagome agreed.  
"You've got nerve to ask Kagome to be your bride in front of Kikyo and I." Inu-Yasha frowned.  
"Kikyo and I don't really care for each other do we Kikyo?" Sesshy drawled.  
"I still hardly believe you exist." She said airily.   
"Same here." Inu-Yasha and Kagome said in union.  
Sesshy glared as he continued, "and Inu-Yasha means nothing to Kagome so what's wrong with that?"  
Kagome stared at his absolute stupidity.  
"Oh yea...that's right!" Inu-Yasha looked like he had just remembered something important, "Err...how's your cheek?" he added casually.  
"Eh?"  
They all stared at the navy blue band-aid on his cheek that contrasted deeply against his white hair and pale skin.  
"Now where did that come from?" Sesshy thought deeply. Or tried to. But he looked like he was trying hard.  
"Oh I don't know. Maybe a branch poked you while you were in the woods." Kagome voice was dripping, no, it was absolutely drowning in sarcasm.  
Sesshy completely missed the sarcasm.  
"Or something else..." Inu-Yasha looked innocently at the palm tree nearby.  
Kagome blew off her middle fingernail.  
"And Sesshy...I know that you're inseparable with that boa...but wearing it like a headscarf??"  
"I'm only wearing like this because keeps it out of the sand!" Sesshy said with as much dignity as one can have when wearing something huge and fluffy around ones head.   
Sango and Miroku reappeared with a handful of kitchen tools.  
"Hey cool! Now we're three couples!!" Miroku exclaimed.  
Sango dropped everything she was holding when she saw Kikyo sitting in the sand and Sesshy's 'head scarf' and started turning blue from trying not to laugh.  
"I've got an idea!" Inu-Yasha stated, "Let's have a contest! Pair up with your partner for a sandcastle contest!"   
"Who's the judge?" Kikyo asked.  
"Let's have four judges." Inu-Yasha cracked his knuckles. "Moms and dads. The King and queen of Shikon and Tetsusaiga."  
"Done!" Fluffy smacked a fist into the palm of his other hand.   
The two brothers glared at each other with Kagome in the background. Sango and Miroku sweated on the side.  
"This isn't a contest! It's a family feud!" Miroku nudged Inu-Yasha's arm.  
"It's a type of contest...^.^"  
"..."  
"and it's the start of many...and not just between me and my brother."  
Miroku looked around and saw Kagome and Kikyo staring daggers at each other, both willing each other to be nothing but ill.  
"Ah. Sango dear, we'd better keep out of the way! ^^'"   
"No way! I need you guys to make it look like there's a group of us just having fun on the beach." Inu-Yasha called to their retreating backs.  
"Come and join us, Sango-chan!" Kagome coaxed, "You and Miroku can be partners!"  
"And Kagome! You and I will be partners!" fluffy TRIED to be gallant. "Kagome?"   
He looked around and completely missed the fact that Inu-Yasha had four legs and suddenly black hair was mixing with Inu-Yasha's white.  
"What Did You Do To My Kagome???" Fluffy pointed an accusing finger at Inu-Yasha.  
'hehehe' thought Kagome.  
Suddenly female arms snaked around Inu-Yasha's neck and then everyone saw Kagome put her head on his shoulder and then smile contently. Miroku and Sango 'whooped', Fluffy stared while wildly thinking that Inu-Yasha had put a spell on Kagome and Kikyo glared at Kagome thinking, 'HOW DARE SHE???'   
Sango turned and hugged Miroku, who turned pink.  
"Come on and join the fun!" she called to Kikyo and Fluffy.  
Kagome and Inu-Yasha were peacefully enjoying each others embrace when suddenly whey were sandwiched between the two people they hated most. Sesshy was hugging Kagome's back while Kikyo was trying to hug Inu-Yasha's. They were a site to see. And passer Byers stopped and whispered and one person even started setting up a painter's easel.   
"Oops." Sango whispered.   
"Err...why don't we start working on the sandcastles..." Miroku suggested.   
"Brilliant idea!!" Inu-Yasha exclaimed and managed to shake Kikyo off.  
Kagome shoved her elbows into Fluffy. That got him off real quick.  
"Well, seeing as the partners have been decided, the-" Miroku started and Fluffy interrupted.  
"No they haven't! We haven't agreed!"  
"Well seeing as I'm paring up with Miroku and Kagome is paring up with Inu-Yasha...that leaves you two together..." Sango waved the obvious facts under his nose.  
"Allow me to pass out the equipment." Kagome volunteered.  
Massed her two pales containing equal amounts of cutlery and tools to work with. He kept a bucket for him and Sango.  
Kagome walked over to Kikyo and Fluffy's group and handed Fluffy the pale.  
Mistake.  
When Fluffy took the pale, he took her hand and kissed it.  
Mistake.  
Out of 'nowhere' her free hand slapped him in the face: right on the bandage.   
A lot of people stopped to murmur and one kid even yelled over to him, "He Mister!! You don't seriously think that that bandage is gonna cover the hand mark, do you??" and then walked away while laughing with his friends.  
At that moment, Fluffy was making death vows towards the kid...  
"Can the contest PLEASE begin?" Miroku snapped Sesshy out of his murderous glare.  
"Let's go~!" Sango exclaimed, eager to get started.  
"Pick your place on the beach!" Miroku instructed.  
Kagome, Inu-Yasha and Sango went to wetish sand far enough away from the tide.  
Sesshy was about to follow them down there but Kikyo had other ideas.  
"Sesshomaru, dear, the sand there is WET! I want to sit in DRY sand!" she complained.  
"Kikyo, dear, Wet sand is better for packing."  
"I don't care! I refuse to sit in WET sand!!"   
Sesshy sighed in defeat.  
"You have until 7:00 P.M. tonight to finish. If you finish before then, you may leave your castle. If you leave your castle, the other contestants MAY NOT touch your castle." Miroku continued.  
"Is that it?" Sesshy asked, while sitting in the soft, unmoldable sand.   
"Yup! Begin!" Miroku shouted.  
"Kagome, here's what we're going to do: We're going to build a huge block of sturdy sand and then carve out of that, ok?" Inu-Yasha told Kagome.  
"Don't ask me 'ok'. You're the one who knows what he's doing," Kagome pointed out.  
"Right! Then I'm going to need you to listen to what I have to say."  
Kagome nodded.  
"I need you to run into the castle, up to my mom's bathroom, and comeback with her water spritzer."  
"YOUR MOM'S BATHROOM???" Kagome assumed he was crazy.  
"Yup. It's the best one in the castle, and I need to beat Sesshy."  
"What goes into this spritzer?"  
"Water."   
"SO WHY DO I NEED TO GO UP TO YOUR MOM'S BATHROOM WHEN I'M SURE THAT THERE IS MORE THAN ONE IN THE CASTLE????"  
"There is only one other. And it's in the kitchen. Oh, would you look at that, Miroku just sent Sango to go and get that one!"   
"Not if I can beat her!" Kagome muttered under her breath as she took off after Sango.  
She won easily.  
Why? Because Sango didn't know why Kagome was dashing off to the kitchens.  
  
***  
  
While Inuyasha gave Kagome instructions...  
  
"Sango, baby-"  
"don't call me that."  
"Dearest Sango-"  
"Please Miroku..."  
Miroku sighed, "Sango. This is how we're going to do this..." And he basically said the exact same thing Inuyasha said.  
Sango got up and then headed for the castle to get the spritzer from the kitchens that would keep the sand moist.  
  
***  
  
When Miroku shouted 'Begin!' Sesshy attacked the sand.  
"Sesshomaru! What am I supposed to do?" Kikyo demanded.  
"PILE SAND!!!" he replied franticly.   
"But my NAILS!" Kikyo exclaimed, "I just got them MANICURED!"  
Sesshy gasped and looked at his nails, which now had sand under them.  
"MY NAILS!!" Sesshy bellowed and then curled up and cried.   
Miroku and Inuyasha both looke at each other and then rolled in the sand laughing hysterically.   
"It's not funny!" Kikyo chided. "You nails help your hands look good! Really! It's not FUNNY!!!"  
"When why am I laughing so hard?!" Inuyasha sniggered.  
Kikyo's haughty face melted into a pout.  
"Inuyasha!!" she whined. "Don't tease me!"  
"If you tease her, Inuyasha, then you MUST like her!" Sesshy claimed.  
"He wasn't teasing her, he was laughing at the two of you! (idiot)" Miroku spoke up.  
"Don't push your luck Fluffy." Inuyasha barked.  
Sesshy smirked.   
  
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I'm really sorry about the long wait for this next chapter!!! I know that it's been....how long?? ^^' Anyways, I'd really appreciate it if you would review and let me know if you liked this chapter and THEN I'd really appreciate it if you would R+R my most recent fic, Never been Kissed. ^__^  
Much appreciated~!  
  
  
  
And don't for get: Kirara or Noodals? ^^  
  
-Noodals   
=^.^= 


	6. Jealous Misunderstandings

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. *sigh*  
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*sigh*...I reread this fic and I realized how much better the first chapter is...  
Oh well...I hope you all like all of the chapters...-_-  
Anyways, here it is! 19 pages for your enjoyment!!  
The 6th chapter!  
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Your...Not so Average Princess...  
Chapter 6  
Jealous Misunderstandings  
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When Kagome returned with the water spritzer, she noticed Kikyo and Fluffy delicately piling sand up with...spoons...  
"Um...here's the spritzer, Inuyasha...what should I do now?" she asked while glancing at the well-crafted cylinder of sand.  
"This is the one from the kitchen, isn't it." Inuyasha said dully as he took the spritzer from her.  
The princess rolled her eyes, "Yes, it is...so sorry that I could not get my royal hands on your mother's IVORY spritzer. Please realize that if I brought it out, she would probably notice it missing, or if we managed to get it back before her noticing, I doubt that she would miss the pile of sand around it."  
Inuyasha sighed dramatically.  
"I GUESS we'll just have to use THIS one." He muttered with a hint of contempt towards the plastic make of the spritzer in his hand.  
He passed it back to her and instructed her to lightly spray the cylinder as he began to carve. Kagome did as she was told as Inuyasha started carving with a butter knife. Kagome observed his graceful movements as he cut out his first turret. As she continued her circle, she glanced over at Sango and Miroku to see how they were doing. Miroku was showing Sango how to cut into the sand to form the triangular roof of a turret. Kagome stopped squeezing the handle of the spritzer so that the sand didn't get too wet. She looked to the soft sand where Kikyo and Fluffy were working.  
"I'll be right back, Inuyasha," she muttered more to herself than to him.  
She walked up the beach to the shaded area.  
"Um...spoons...?" Kagome asked them.  
"We'll make our castle, and you can make yours!" was the haughty reply from Kikyo.  
"You see, Kagome," Fluffy patently explained, as if everyone should know this, "by using spoons, we can craft the sand pile and not get sand stuck up our nails! You should do that too, because you're nails are important," (Kagome glanced at the navy-blue band-aid on Fluffy's cheek, and nodded as if understanding completely) "and also, your hands don't get dirty and they stay as soft as cream!"  
Kagome glanced at her own hands, that were rougher than a princess's should be, because of all the tree-climbing, horseback riding, sword fighting, and outdoor activities that she did.   
She then looked at their pathetic pile of soft sand.  
  
"I can see that you two are going to be here until the time limit." She observed.  
"Well we won't be going past it!" Kikyo snapped.  
"Duh! You're not allowed to!" Kagome rudely reminded her.  
"Hey Kagome!" Inuyasha called her, "You gonna gossip with the commoners all day, or are you going to come and help?"  
Kagome grinned as she jogged back out into the sun.  
"Here you go," he passed her one of the butter knives. "It'll be easier if you mark the tiles on this turret's roof, instead of carving the turret itself." He told her.  
She got to work on the tiles, which weren't easy at all.  
'None of this would be easy,' she chided herself, after she mentally complained at how imperfect her roof was, 'so why does he have to make it look like it would be???'  
She glanced over at her sister's 'castle' for reassurance, and as a wind blew out of nowhere, she felt her confidence return as the top of the dry 'castle' blew away. She returned to her work of trying to mimic Inuyasha's roof tiles.  
After a few more fruitless tries, she decided to try lightly drawing the stones that built the castle. THIS, she found, was easy. It was lightly tracing lines and as bits of sand fell from the blocks when she drew them, they looked irregular and because the blocks in a castle aren't perfect, it looked good.  
Inuyasha smiled as he looked over at her progress. He liked the fact that she knew she was bad at doing the roof tiles and then tried doing something on her own. He still walked over to her to make a suggestion.  
"Don't do the blocks all over the turrets, okay?"  
"How come?"  
He looked for better words than 'It looks better'.  
"...have you ever seen a water painting of a castle?" he asked her.  
She thought for a second and then nodded.  
"Okay, so on the walls you'll notice that there aren't blocks everywhere."  
"...right...I see what you're saying." She nodded with the light of realization in her eyes.  
"One, it looks better, and two, it won't take you all day." He grinned encouragingly at her.  
"It makes it look...older...doesn't it?" she thought out loud.  
Inuyasha turned that statement over in his head.  
"Yea...you're right..."   
Kagome returned to her art with a new passion.  
  
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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARAGH!!"   
Sango's outburst caused Miroku to look up.  
"What is it, Lady Sango?"  
"This darned, cursed, window ledge keeps falling off!!" she snarled in a very unladylike manner.  
"Hmm..."  
Miroku wandered over to Inuyasha's castle.  
"May we borrow your spritzer?" he politely asked.  
"One sec." Kagome stopped her block building and lightly sprayed the castle over to keep it moist.  
"Here you go!" she handed it to him cheerfully.  
"Why thank you, Lady Kagome!" Miroku bent down and kissed her hand when he took the spritzer from her.  
To the four of them (Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango), this was good manners. A little overdoing it, but that was all part of Miroku's charm.  
But Fluffy looked at him with resentment.   
"How does HE get to kiss her hand without getting slapped, and yet I, Sesshomaru, the heir to the throne, get another injury to my face for it?" he puzzled hard about it.  
"I would say something critical and mean, but this IS Miroku that we're talking about..." Kikyo commented dryly.  
"Kikyo, DEAREST," he added sarcastically, "Why do you want Inuyasha?"  
Kikyo sighed and then became 'girly'.  
"Because he's so STRONG! He rides horses, and fights with swords...Hero material!"  
'Hero material??' Fluffy thought bitterly. 'But if that's what Kagome sees in him, too, then all I need to do is tone up!" He thoughts became excited.  
Eagerly, he returned to work.  
(Sadness)   
  
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2 hours later...  
  
As much as Fluffy tried to pack down the dry, loose, sand, it would not stick. (no surprise there...)  
He pushed the sand (with spoons) into a small, conical shape.   
"Does it have to be a castle?" he hollered at Miroku, who had set the rules. "Or can it be a pyramid?"  
Miroku gave him a look.  
"This is a sandCASTLE contest, my dear lord Sesshomaru."  
Fluffy sighed.  
"I am at the mercy of my brother and his best friend...all for my precious Kagome...HOW did this happen?"  
Kikyo's slow mind finally processed that SHE could ask FLUFFY what he saw in Kagome. That could be the key to winning over Inuyasha's heart!  
Not really.  
"So Fluffy...what DO you see in Kagome?" she purred.  
"She's really pretty...no, I mean damn sexy...I mean look at her in that bikini!" he exclaimed.  
  
Fluffy is a very shallow person.  
  
'Damn sexy?' Kikyo thought, 'Her??  
"And what's wrong with my bikini?" Kikyo asked, referring to her black and off-white, 'spray painted on', target swimsuit.   
  
"...you look like you're naked."  
  
"Isn't that 'sexy'??" Kikyo was confused.  
"Yes, but on you it looks like something out of a horror movie. The dead weeds in your hair add to that effect."  
"They aren't weeds!" Kikyo cried out indignantly, "They're baby's breath!"  
"...But you don't deny the fact that they're dead?" Fluffy asked to confirm.  
"Well, I brought them from MY home by the mountains, so they're probably only 2 weeks old..."  
"Anything THAT dead deserves a coffin..." came a mumbled reply.  
  
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"Why is your sister's face so...pale?" Inuyasha questioned to make conversation.  
Kagome shrugged, "I don't know. This is probably the longest she's ever been out in the sun. I asked her if she had bleach injected into her skin before I was born but she asked me what bleach was."  
"Well, if she didn't know what it was, maybe she dumped it on her face thinking that it was face cream...that's what my brother did."  
"You're kidding, right?"  
"Well...no...but you see...he has a whole lot of bottles in his bathroom and being the prankster that I was (and still am), I poured bleach into two of them...his hair used to be black, by the way."  
"...YOU BLEACHED HIS HAIR???"  
Inuyasha grinned wickedly but it soon dissolved into a pout.  
"Mine used to be black, too."  
  
Sibling rivalry at its high points.  
  
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It was five o'clock when Sango and Miroku stood back and marveled at their work of art.   
"Are we done, Miroku?"   
"Yup! Proud of your work?"   
Sango nodded eagerly. "Thanks for helping me, too!!" she hugged him around the neck.  
Kagome looked up and grinned at her friend's castle.  
"How much more needs to be done, Inuyasha?"   
"We're done! Great art-work, Kagome!"  
She grinned. "Thanks~!"  
All of them looked over at the mound of sand that Fluffy and Kikyo were now delicately placing shells on.   
"...Indeed..."   
"There's still sunlight, out! Would you like to play in the water?" Miroku asked.  
Kagome laughed as she ran into the salty liquid and dragged Sango after her. Inuyasha jumped in and shoved them both over into the soft sand and Miroku charged in after him and shoved Inuyasha over. Kagome suddenly gagged on the salt water she had just swallowed.  
As Inuyasha whacked her on the back he explained, "Don't get the water in your eyes, either. It really stings."   
Kagome peered into his eyes. For points, she made them look like she was gazing into them.  
'She's...she's looking at me...in front of everybody else...' Inuyasha started breathing faster, whether it was out of 'romance' or embarrassment, I'm not too sure.  
"Huh? What are you doing, Kagome?" Inuyasha became nervous.  
"So...THAT'S why you're eyes are all funny look'n..." she teased, "You opened your eyes up underwater too many times..."   
It took a second for her statement to sink in.  
"Why you...!!" He charged at her and she giggled as she raced away from him.  
"Ah...love is in the air~!" Miroku sang after them.  
They both froze and then glared at them.  
"C'est L'Amour~!" Sango added dramatically.  
Their glares became icy.  
Miroku sidled over to Sango. "Um...why do I get the feeling that we're a new killing target?"  
She gave him 'the look'.   
"Hmm...good question..."  
  
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Inside the castle...  
  
... "I see...Well then, we will always welcome you here at court, for your father is a great friend of mine. My two sons and the Kingdom Shikon's two princesses are currently outside, down at the beach." He turned to a servant that was standing at ready, "Take Lord Naraku to his room where he can change to join the others."  
The servant rushed to obey and Lord Naraku followed.  
  
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"Hey Inuyasha...Miroku...who's that man...coming towards us...?" Sango pointed.  
"Huh?" Both boys looked up.  
An audible gasp escaped their throats and the girls even heard Fluffy gasp.  
"It's...it's...Naraku..." Fluffy hissed.  
"Who?" Sango asked curiously.  
"Naraku. He's mean. And he stole my pillow once. The furry one with a picture of a teddy bear on it." Fluffy explained matter-of-factly.   
"He's not very nice." Inuyasha muttered to Kagome. "Just stay clear of him."  
She nodded in response.   
"Oh, he's coming this way..." Fluffy continued to hiss venomously.   
They all looked at him.   
"Thank you, Fluffy, I didn't notice." Sango dryly remarked.  
Naraku reached them. "Well, well, well, if we aren't all playing in the sand!!" he said pleasantly. Kagome, however, noticed the falseness of his smile.   
She smiled back, however, but was on her guard incase he made a move to touch the castle she and Inuyasha had carefully constructed.   
Naraku checked out Sango and Miroku's castle, and then Kagome and Inuyasha's. Then he turned, sneered at Kikyo's castle (who, by the way, was staring starry-eyed (for whatever reason) at Naraku), and then walked ankle deep into the water.   
"Hello, Inuyasha." Naraku smiled smoothly. "Aren't you going to introduce me to you're new friends?"   
Inuyasha stepped in front but did not smile back. "This is Princess Kagome, of Shikon, and her lady-in-waiting, Lady Sango."   
(Kagome snickered inwardly as she noticed he didn't introduce Kikyo.)  
"Charmed I'm sure." Naraku checked the two of them out.   
Kagome and Sango smiled pleasantly, but their smiles did not extend to their eyes. They privately decided to be nice to Naraku, until he became unworthy of their good side.   
"So, it's been a while since I've been here..." Naraku started. "Shall we explore the waters?"  
Miroku shook his head. "It's not a good time of day to see the fish, and plus, if you want to explore the underwater caves, you have to do that in the morning."  
"Ah yes, I should have remembered..."  
  
They all sort of stood around. It was like Naraku showed up and automatically, all activity stopped. He made them feel a little uncomfortable, and he just didn't seem like the kind of person that would fit in with the four of them.   
  
"I don't suppose we could just get the masks and flippers..." Miroku started uncertainly. "And then we could just...swim around...?"  
Everyone sort of looked at him, waiting for someone else to move first.  
"Excellent idea, Miroku!!" Inuyasha gave him an over-enthusiastic pat on the back, in thanks for breaking the uneasy silence, and then dragged Miroku off to get enough equipment for the five of them.   
Kagome shot Naraku a sideways glance and noticed that he was *still* checking her out. Her mind ticked and she was about to turn and glare at him, when he adverted his gaze towards Sango. The look he was giving Sango was pure predatory. Kagome then glanced at Sango, who was staring after Miroku and Inuyasha. Kagome was slightly afraid of what Sango would do if she knew this guy was staring at her, and she assumed Naraku didn't know Sango was already taken. So...  
"Isn't he CUTE??" Kagome squealed in Sango's ear.   
Sango jumped.  
"Huh? Who??"  
"Inuyasha!!" Kagome exclaimed.   
She mentally hit herself in the head. She realized that she should have said Miroku, if she was trying to ward Naraku away.  
"Huh? Oh, yea, he is, actually~!"   
"But then so is Miroku." Kagome recovered slyly.   
The face she got from Sango was exactly the reaction she was looking for. Sango smiled peacefully, her brown eyes softened.   
"He's more than cute, Kagome..." she said.  
"Yea, but I can't look at him the way you do. Now Inuyasha on the other hand..." she smirked.   
"No, I know Inuyasha is cute and all, but Miroku's better!"  
"Well I guess from *your* perspective..."  
"I mean, he's so cuddly~!" she squealed.  
"Uh..." Kagome couldn't and didn't share that view of him.  
"And he does have a 6-pack..."  
  
Naraku has a 6-pack.  
  
"Uh, right, and his, uh, arms are really strong too..." Kagome started finding this a little more difficult than she anticipated. I mean, she was trying to describe her best friend's boyfriend and make him sound better than her own guy *and* the bad guy she was trying to ward away.  
"Oh I know!! And I like his hair too~!"  
"Uh...yea!! I mean it's not too long or anything!!" Kagome stated with a smirk, because Naraku's hair was *much* longer than Miroku's...but then so was Inuyasha's...   
She mentally banged her head against an invisible wall.  
"Uh, err, I mean, It's perfect for HIM!! Uh, cause Inuyasha's hair is a *perfect* length for *him*, you know what I mean?"   
Sango started glancing at Kagome funny.  
"Uh....yea...." she said.  
'I'm in trouble...' Kagome thought.   
"And...and...and..." Kagome fought to save herself from this hole she was digging herself into, "...and...AND HE DOESN'T WEAR MAKEUP!!" She exclaimed...and then started mentally shooting herself with an invisible gun.  
Fluffy looked up. "What's that about somebody not wearing makeup?" he called.  
"NOTHING!!" Kagome screamed back.   
It was true though. Naraku was wearing eye makeup.   
Bishie.   
"...Kagome...?" Sango looked at Kagome as if Kagome had just confessed to her that she was growing another toe, and it was going to be multi-colored and grow tulips, with a side order of fries.   
"Well, he, uh, doesn't wear makeup...right?"  
"....right...but where'd *that* come from...?"  
"MY HEAD!!"  
"Ah, right..."  
Inuyasha and Miroku returned. Kagome shot a glance at Naraku, who looked as if he had not heard a thing the two of them had said.   
'Idiot.' She thought.  
  
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~*Kagome's POV*~  
  
I walked backwards into the water, just as I had been instructed, and then tripped. Again. Over what? THESE STUPID FLIPPERS!!!   
Not just because of the flippers, mind you, but also because the tide threw me off balance. The tide is amazingly strong when you're only ankle-deep and graceful 'ol me fell face-first into the wet sand. I struggled to get back up again, but the tide washed over my head, causing me to swallow a mouthful of salt water. It made me want to puke. But instead I gagged, and coughed.   
I was a pile of sand, hair, salt, and flippers. For the second time, too.   
I felt gentle hands pull me up and then carefully straighten my hair. I coughed some more and then sighed pitifully at Inuyasha.  
"Man, I thought you were invincible! You can beat me at sword fighting, and archery and you ride hella fast on horses...but you can't walk into the water with flippers?" he teased.   
My pitiful look turned deadly and I shoved him roughly into the salty water.   
Causing me to lose my balance.   
Making me fall.   
Again.   
And I fell face-first into the sand, and the tide washed over my head, causing me to swallow a mouthful of salt water, making me gag.   
Does any of this sound remotely familiar?   
I sighed, as I managed to get myself upright again. I watched Inuyasha get himself up again, as I continued to walk backwards. I was now knee-deep. And a huge wave came crashing down on me. I *would* have screamed with impatiens if I hadn't been underwater. The only reason why I hadn't given up yet was because my mask was firmly in place and I could still see. The wave passed, and I stood up. Inuyasha reached me (somehow the guy didn't manage to fall over like I did the third time), and scooped me up into his arms. I blushed, and was obvious to the whoops from my oh-so-closest-friends that were already out further and swimming (Sango and Miroku), but clung on to his neck.   
When we were waist deep, Inuyasha looked around, said, "We're here", and then dropped me. Literally.   
Instinctively I inhaled, but I went down kicking and throwing punches at him for dropping me.   
He laughed playfully and then dove into the water, towards Miroku and Sango. I followed, still grumpy, as best as my swimming capability allowed. I wasn't the best swimmer, as I had only really swum in a small lake, but I was impressed with the power the flippers gave me. I caught up relatively quickly, and did not fail to notice that we were no longer touching the ground.   
"Ready to look underwater?" Inuyasha grinned.  
I blinked. I hadn't yet done that, and when I was being spun around in the turbulent tide, all I had seen was muddy sand.   
I looked underwater and gasped (as best as you can gasp underwater).   
It was like a whole new world underwater! There was massive coral that was 20 feet high, and as I looked farther out, I saw the water get deeper and the coral get bigger. I saw a few rainbow colored fish swim together amongst the coral and then disappear inside. There was anemone of all sorts swaying back and forth with the slight current of the tide, but the thing that caught my attention was how blue the water was! It was just like in the pictures: Aquamarine but became a deep blue the farther I looked out.   
I pulled my head up for air.  
"Well?" Inuyasha grinned.  
I stared at him with wondrous eyes while opening and closing my mouth, looking for the right adjective to use.  
"...whoa..." was all I managed to say.   
"Any other words you like to use, or does that just sum it up?" He just gave me his smile and then all the adjectives I meant to use came tumbling out: "Incredible, breathtaking, amazing, wondrous, exhilarating, elating, thrilling, exciting, astonishing, bewildering, fabulous..." I babbled.   
He grinned as I stopped for air.  
"Wow. All those words right off the top of your head, and none repeated." He congratulated me.   
I decided to stop blabbering and glanced over at Sango...and watched her do the same thing with Miroku.   
"*I* don't see what's so impressive." Naraku drawled from a short distance away. "It's just the sea."  
Inuyasha scowled at him.   
"Maybe so, Naraku, but if you will be kind enough to notice, I didn't actually use the word 'impressive'." I smirked.   
Naraku narrowed his eyes at me, but turned away and dove under the surface.   
"Can we explore underwater?" Sango asked excitedly, breaking the building tension.   
"No....You can't!! I'm not going to let you, *even though* I have no way of stopping you..." Miroku sarcastically remarked.  
Sango pouted.  
Miroku's sarcasm faltered as he saw her lip tremble.  
"You're not going to cry, are you??" he asked worriedly. He, like Inuyasha, hated it when girls cried, especially if it was because of them. Miroku, however, didn't often make girls cry...  
"OF *COURSE* NOT!!" Sango thundered at him. "I ONLY ASK IF I CAN DO SOMETHING BECAUSE IT'S POLITE!!!!"  
Miroku whimpered.  
"You can't go down that deep without an air tank and such. The pressure is a bit much." Inuyasha warned gently.   
I squealed with delight and then dove under.   
The scenery took my breath away again (you know what I mean. If it took my breath away, I'd be drowning. I'm not drowning.). I kicked hard and felt my body be propelled deeper. I kicked again and as I swam deeper, I felt my mask squish tighter to my face. I kept kicking until I was amongst the coral. There were no fish around, except for tiny ones. They were actually really pretty to look at, when they kept still enough. I was fairly deep now and the pressure felt like it was going to crush my chest. Someone tugged on my flipper and I spun around to see Inuyasha holding out his hand. I took it and as he dragged me up to the surface, I felt the pressure around me lessen until my lungs expanded and were struggling for oxygen. I gasped as we broke through the surface.   
"Cripes! I really *do* need to keep an eye on you!!" Inuyasha berated me as he breathed heavily. "*I* didn't even go *that* deep on my first time down!"   
"Yea, but I'll bet the first time you went down was when you were just an itty bitty boy." I teased.   
"Kagome, don't go too deep with out oxygen. The last thing I need is for you to be unconscious on the bottom of the ocean because you ran out of air and the pressure squashed the rest of it out of you." He shook his head at me.  
"Oh come ON. It wasn't THAT bad!!"  
"It could have been."  
"It's called drowning, right?"   
"Basically."  
I sighed. "Well *that's* no fun, anymore if I can't swim deep!!"  
I watched him roll his eyes.  
Off on shore I saw a servant come out, talk to Fluffy and Kikyo for a brief moment and then disappear back into the castle.  
Sesshomaru stood up and walked to the waters edge.  
"INUYASHA??" he hollered out to us. "FATHER SAYS IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR DINNER!!"  
Inuyasha smirked at Miroku, who smirked back.  
"FATHER SAYS TOUCH YOUR ARM!!" Inuyasha hollered back to Fluffy.  
"FATHER SAYS TOUCH YOUR LEG!!" Miroku followed.  
"FATHER SAYS SPIN AROUND!!!"  
"FATHER SAYS HOP ON ONE FOOT!!"  
Sesshomaru yelled insanely on the beach and then ran inside covering his ears.  
  
I glanced at the two of them. "...?"  
They both grinned at Sango and I and said something similar to "inside joke".   
The two of us nodded as if understanding perfectly.   
Naraku just looked at them with a face that said "childish and immature."  
But who cares what Naraku has to say?  
  
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~*Authors POV*~  
  
"...You want us to judge your sandcastles?"   
Kagome and Sango nodded, while everyone else finished their meal. "At 7:00 tonight."  
"All four of us?"   
The six of them nodded.   
Inuyasha's father sighed. "Well, that leaves us one hour."   
Kikyo and Fluffy excused themselves from the table.   
The four remaining contestants smirked and then excused themselves, to follow.   
  
When the four of them arrived at the beach they were greeted with the site of Fluffy wailing and pounding the ground like a baby, and Kikyo staring blankly at a spot in the dirt.  
"...What happened?" Kagome asked with wonder.  
"OUR CASTLE!! IT BLEW AWAY!!!" Fluffy continued to wail.   
Miroku turned his snickering in to a cough.   
"...We worked SO hard..." Kikyo said blankly.   
An insane light came across Fluffy's face. "WE WILL FINISH!!!"  
He bent down, and with his 'oh-so-carefully-manicured-work-of-art-nails' he started to dig madly in the sand, flinging the sand at Kikyo (who shrieked and fell over).   
He didn't stop. Even though Kikyo was still there, he continued to pile sand on top of her.   
Kagome was quite enjoying this. Her sister was getting buried in the sand because she was too weak to move the huge bundle off of her. And being the oh-so-helpful sister that she was, she ran and got the spritzer.   
"Here you go, Sesshomaru~! You wouldn't want your castle to crumble, now would you?"  
"Oh, of course not, my sweet buttercup!!" he said gallantly as he took the spritzer from her.  
She gagged.  
Kikyo glared at Kagome as she continued to shriek insanities at Fluffy for treating her so horribly.   
"MY NAILS!! AND MY SKIN!! AND *GASP* MY HAIR!!!!!"  
Fluffy ignored her as he continued to dump sand on her.   
  
As 7:00 rolled around, and the kings and queens (makes this whole contest sound very important, doesn't it?) of Shikon and Tetsusaiga walked to the beach, Fluffy piled the sand on top of Kikyo's head (muffling her shrieks of protest) and covered the pile of sand with shells, stones, and seaweed.   
  
It looked....well, I'll just leave my opinion out of this.   
  
Kagome's parents gapped at the castles. They, too, had never seen a sand castle before now, really.   
"OoOoh~! I like THIS one!!" Kagome's mother squealed, as she went and stood next to Kagome and Inuyasha's castle.   
"And *I* like *this* one!!" Inuyasha's mother giggled, and went to stand next to Sango and Miroku's.   
Each parent picked their castle.   
"Sesshomaru...Where is your castle?" his mother asked him, as she went and stood on the mound of sand (covered in seaweed, stones, and shells) to get a better look around the beach.   
Fluffy whimpered and fainted.   
The mound of sand squirmed beneath his mother's foot and then screamed. His mother fainted and so did Kagome's, while Kagome herself and Sango cracked up.   
Inuyasha, meanwhile, was doing a victory dance, and then grabbed Kagome.  
"WE WON~! WE WON~!" he yelled.   
Kagome blinked in realization as she noticed that three parents were standing by her castle, and then ran to the water, splashing amongst the waves, while whooping in victory.   
"Hmph," muttered Miroku, "bad winners."   
Kagome stuck out her tongue, "Sore losers~!!"   
Sango nudged Miroku in the ribs. "That's my best friend you're talking about. Besides, Fluffy didn't win." She winked.   
They both glanced at Fluffy, who was still lying in a faint.   
  
Suddenly, from the packed pile of sand came a pitiful cry. "Inuyashaaa~!!!!"   
Inuyasha glanced up and saw Kikyo sadly trying to get out of the sand.   
Kagome walked over with him. "Hm...Fluffy did a good job mummifying you."   
Kikyo shot her another nasty glare.  
The light went on in Inuyasha's head and his shoulder angle was blown to pieces. ^___^  
Inuyasha sighed dramatically. "Aww, poor Kikyo. That was *really* mean of Fluffy, now wasn't it?"   
Kikyo pouted at him and the nodded as best as she could.   
"Here, let me help you out of there." Inuyasha smiled benignly at her.   
Kagome's blood boiled.   
'...What's he doing??' she thought.  
Inuyasha's clawed hands dug Kikyo out in a matter of minutes.  
"There you go!" he continued in his honey-sweet voice. "Oh, Kikyo! I've got a beautiful spot on the beach I'd like to show you~!"   
Kikyo's eyes sparkled at the attention, while Kagome looked like she was going to snap.  
'What the HELL is he doing??' she thought. 'He hasn't shown me *any* special spot of his...why her?'  
Sango and Miroku watched him with curiosity, knowing that he was going to do something to Kikyo, but weren't sure what.  
"Hop on." Inuyasha winked flirtatiously at Kikyo.   
"...hop on?"  
"Yea~!" He tossed Kikyo onto his back and then sped off at a high speed.  
".....he's....fast..." Sango commented.  
Miroku blinked. "Well, he *is* a hanyou. He didn't tell you that?"  
Both girls blinked.   
Kagome's anger deteriorated to confused sadness. '...he's a hanyou?' she wondered to herself, 'I never thought of it...but...why didn't he tell me? That's so cool! But, why does Kikyo get a ride on his back? I want one too! ...and I thought he hated Kikyo...'  
"He's a hanyou? I guess he is." Sango commented.   
"Did you know that, Kagome-chan?" Miroku asked curiously.  
"...No, I didn't. I never thought much of his ears...I assumed he was a demon, but he acted so human, I just didn't care what he was. I never knew he could run so fast and carry...someone else." She said, wondering why they were taking this so lightly, when inside she felt a pinch at her heart. "Is Fluffy a hanyou, too?"  
Miroku smiled grimly. "Nope. Our wussy Sesshomaru is indeed a full demon. The only reason Inuyasha doesn't get the crap beaten out of him daily is because Fluffy is scared he will break a nail."   
'I wonder why he didn't tell me.' Kagome thought to herself and then started berating herself as she felt tears start to burn at the back of her eyes. She wouldn't cry. Not just because Inuyasha's attention was divided for a moment.   
Sango glanced at Kagome. "Is something wrong, Kagome?"  
Kagome blinked. Out loud she smiled and said "Nothing is wrong, Sango-chan," (adding the 'chan' to the end of her name to lighten things up) but inside she started yelling 'IS SOMETHING WRONG? IS SOMETHING WRONG?? OF COURSE THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG!! THE GUY I REALLY LIKE, JUST CARRIED OFF MY BITCHY SISTER ON HIS BACK TO SHOW HER A PLACE THAT HE CALLES SPECIAL. HE'S NEVER CARRIED *ME* ON HIS BACK, NOR HAS HE *EVER* SHOWED ME *ANY* PLACE THAT HE LIKES. ...except for the top of the cliff that over-looks the ocean....BUT I FOUND THAT ON MY OWN!!! SO IS ANYTHING WRONG, SANGO? YES THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG. EVERYTHING'S WRONG!!!'   
"I'm gonna go see what's happening!" Miroku exclaimed.  
Sango grabbed his hand and followed, expecting Kagome to come too.   
'...it's his 'beautiful spot'...I don't know if it's right to intrude...' she thought.   
She turned to go to bed, feeling sad. Inuyasha had never told her that he was a hanyou.  
So what if she'd never asked? What was she supposed to ask?   
Kagome snorted at the idea: 'Hi, so what exactly *are* you?'   
Right, like that would go reeeeally well... and Sango and Miroku hadn't even noticed that she hadn't followed.   
She stepped over Fluffy, who was now waking up.   
  
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"...Oh Kikyo, isn't it nice?" Inuyasha asked cheesily.  
Kikyo didn't see why it was so much better than in front of the castle, but wanting to stay on Inuyasha's good side she enthusiastically agreed. "Oh, it's so marvelous, Inuyasha!!!!! Thank you for showing me!!! Did you know how *strong* your back is?? It's so nice...you should give me rides more often~!"  
Inuyasha let his fake smile grace his features as he thought 'What am I, a pony?'.   
His nose told him that Sango and Miroku had arrived for the fun. He extended his sense of smell as far as it could go to find how far behind Kagome was...but then realized that she hadn't followed.   
Kikyo interrupted his thoughts. "But I really wish I could have a bath. I'm all covered in sand..."   
'Now *that* was the line I was looking for!!' Inuyasha thought with a smirk.  
"A bath? Come with me~!" He picked her up princess style and leapt to the dock   
Miroku smirked as he saw what Inuyasha was going to do.  
Inuyasha sighed, with Kikyo still in his arms, "It isn't fresh water but-" he dropped her into the salt water "It's better than nothing, right?" he grinned wickedly at her.   
Kikyo started splashing around.  
"...Inuyasha..." Sango stared dully at Kikyo, "...she's drowning..."   
"...how?"   
"Just look at her! Does it look like she's swimming?"  
" well no......but there's like...three feet of water..."  
"...I know...she can't swim in the bathtub. She needs a small one so that she can stay upright."  
Inuyasha squinted his eyes in disgust. "I didn't need that image of Kikyo sitting in a bathtub, Sango."  
Sango smirked. "Oh yea, and she sings in the tub, too, did you know?"  
Inuyasha shuddered. "Yes, Sango, I did know. I heard her once. I was all the way down the hall, even."  
Sango snorted.  
"...Um...I don't suppose one of us should save her...?" Miroku asked innocently as he watched the pitiful figure splash around in the water.  
"You can. I'm going to bed." Inuyasha turned and leapt from the dock to the beach and then took off in bounding leaps, that the rest of them (save Miroku) had no idea he was capable of demonstrating.   
Sango looked around as Miroku waded into the water to drag the poor, idiotic princess out.  
"Where's Kagome?"  
Miroku looked up. "...good question."  
"I'll ask her later." Sango shrugged.  
  
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Something was nagging at Inuyasha as he gracefully landed in front of the castle. Why had Kagome not followed? They had just won the contest that they had spent most of the day on. Watching Kikyo drown in three feet of water would have been the *perfect* way to end a glorious day.   
Another thing caught his attention: "...Did you know how *strong* your back is?? It's so nice...you should give me rides more often~!"  
Kikyo had said that, and it just now caught his attention that Kagome had never said anything like that to him. It didn't seem like something Kagome would say but she'd never had the chance to because she'd never gotten a ride from him.   
And there was a reason for that.   
He'd never mentioned that he was a hanyou. It had been hard enough being a prince to be accepted by others, but to be shadowed by your older brother because he's so much stronger than you and always will be made it harder. He didn't want her to know what he was. People had never liked him much for it. The only reason they liked him *as much* as his brother was because his brother was a wuss and he wasn't.   
He slapped himself on the forehead.   
'Perhaps bounding across the sand with another person on my back, *and* moving faster than Miroku could run without someone on his back, wasn't the best idea.' He sighed to himself.   
A new idea of fear burrowed deep inside of him.  
Maybe she didn't follow because she didn't like the fact that he was a hanyou. Was she that picky? Dear God, he hoped not. She was all he wanted. As long as he could have her, then he would be happy.   
He blinked.   
Was that true? He decided to ponder the idea as he went to sleep. What was the most important thing in his life?  
He supposed things would work out in the morning.  
  
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Kagome lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.   
Was she being stupid? Not really...   
Why didn't he tell her??? That was the main thing that was bugging her.   
'What, is he afraid that I won't like him or something?? Does he think I'm that dense?? ...so confused...maybe I am being stupid.'  
Sango entered her room.  
"Where were you?" she asked with curiosity.   
"He never told me he was a hanyou." Kagome decided to not dance around the reason and just jump to the facts.  
"So?"   
"Would you expect Miroku to tell you something like that?"  
"...hm...I suppose I would. But think of it this way, Kagome-chan: For Inuyasha, being a hanyou can't be easy. I mean, they're really rare, and most humans are afraid of anything more powerful than them, and full demons always look down on them. He was probably afraid of your response to it."  
Kagome squinted her eyes trying to work the pieces together. "Does he really think I'm like that, Sango-chan?"   
Sango shrugged. "Probably not, but who knows? He may have taken a chance at telling someone before, and they probably responded in the worst ways."  
"...and why did you guys follow Inuyasha when he took Kikyo to his 'special spot'? It sounded to me like he wanted some privacy, or something..."  
Sango nearly fell of the bed. "KAGOME!! It was a friggen joke!!! He actually dumped Kikyo into the water off of the dock!!!"  
"...oh..."  
"...she almost drowned..."  
Kagome still looked a little glum.   
Sango sighed. "Kagome-chan, I'm going to add a new word to your dictionary. It's called jealousy."  
"..."  
"Do you know what that word means?" Sango teased.  
"...I am NOT jealous..."   
Sango grinned. "You *are* too~! Ooh wait till Inuyasha finds out!!"   
"you WILL NOT tell him!!!" Kagome's slight depression melted away to panic. What would Inuyasha think when he found out how stupid she had been, just because of a little jealousy? He would tease her to no end...-.-  
Sango grinned, and Kagome could have sworn that she saw devil horns...  
Her lady in waiting got up and sang "Kagome's jealous~! Kagome's jealous~!" as she danced out of the door.  
"SANGO!! SHUT UP!!!"  
Sango stuck her head behind the door and stuck her tongue out at Kagome, "Kagome's jealous~! Kagome's jealous~!"  
A new voice sounded behind Sango. "What's Kagome jealous of, Sango-chan?"   
Kagome's face paled and she ran into the attached bathroom and locked the door, as Sango grinned and turned around to Inuyasha.   
"Hm...*I* don't know... Maybe you should go and ask her yourself~!!" She smiled angelically.   
'Oh gee thanks, Sango...' Kagome thought exasperatedly.   
"Ok," responded Inuyasha.   
Sango flounced to the next room over and prepared for bed, while Inuyasha closed the door behind him.  
"Kagome?"  
Kagome huddled up in the bathroom and didn't make a sound. She was embarrassed for being so stupid, and didn't want to talk about it with him.   
But he was not going to let her out of it. ^__^  
"...Kagome...?" He rapped lightly on the bathroom door.   
Silence.  
"..Kagome, I know you're in there. What's up? Why are you hiding from me??"  
Kagome ignored him and glanced around the bathroom, to keep herself occupied.   
Inuyasha sighed impatiently. "Kagome, don't make me come in there and get you."  
Kagome's eyes fell upon a spider. And, damn, it was a huge spider. Oh, and guess what? It was on the ceiling right above her.  
Kagome screamed bloody murder and ran out of the room, eyes wide in fear.  
"Kagome!! What's wrong??" Inuyasha grabbed her wrist and pulled her in, and held her close.   
"fuh...fuh...there's a hell of a big spider in there!!" she gasped.  
"hm...would you like me to kill it for you?"   
Kagome nodded her head like a woodpecker at a tree.   
Inuyasha let go of her and ran into the bathroom with his claws ready, and Kagome took the opportunity to escape from confessing her stupidity. She shut the door behind her and dashed down the hallway to the staircase, while her savior slashed the spider into ribbons.   
"...there we go. Nothing to be afraid-" he stopped short, realizing that she was no longer in the room.   
He sighed and leapt to the door.   
'WHY is she running from me?? I want to know what's wrong, and now I KNOW that there's definitely something up. I'm gonna find out what it is.' He thought.  
He inhaled and traced her scent to the staircase.   
There was no way she could escape him. Not with his abilities. ^.~  
  
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Kagome skipped steps until she reached the bottom. She ran down another corridor and picked another flight of stairs to go up.   
'I can't keep running from him,' she thought. 'I mean, he's a fricken hanyou. He can run twice as fast as I can... Oh well.'  
She breathed evenly as she reached the top of the stairs. She had an eerie feeling that he was close behind, so she picked a door and closed it behind her. It led her to another room with another door. She ran to it and opened it, revealing a hallway. She turned left and ran. Fast.   
'Oh look, another staircase.' She thought and went down. She heard the first door that led to the room she had gone through slam shut and as she reached the middle of the stairs, she heard the door that lead to the hallway open and close again. She jumped down the remainder of the stairs, landed heavily and then realized that she needed a plan.   
And a plan she had.   
It wasn't a very good plan. Chances were it wouldn't work. But it was worth a try.   
She dove into a room and stood behind the door, leaving it open. Inuyasha bounded up to the door, with the word 'victory' running through his head, until she slammed the door.   
WHAM!  
The door shuddered as Inuyasha ran head-on into it.  
Inuyasha yelled insanities and cursed in several different languages and Kagome hoped she had not broken his nose as she sprinted for another door to go through.   
"KAGOME!!"  
"I'M SORRY!!!" she yelled over her shoulder.  
Inuyasha got up, as his nose started to mend. It hadn't broken, so it should be good as new in about an hour.   
He yanked open the door, crossed the room in a leap, and dashed out into the hall.   
"KAGOME!! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!!"  
A door down the hall slammed shut in response.   
He dashed down the hall and smirked as he reached the door. He knew where he was in the castle. This room was a dead end.   
He opened the door and looked around.   
The window was open.   
He cursed. "I REALLY didn't want to chase her around all night, but damnit, what is wrong??" he muttered to himself. He leapt out the window and followed the trail of ivy down the side of the castle wall.  
Kagome smirked. Her plan had worked. He hadn't even bothered to check if she was still in the room. The open window allowed him to assume what had happened. She crawled out from under a covered table she had been hiding under and ran out into the hall. While he was hunting around outside looking for her, she could get some rest.   
...Now where was her room...  
Kagome looked around for a maid that perhaps would know her way around.   
"Excuse me?" she asked a passing servant.   
The girl bowed and politely asked what she could do for her.  
"I'm...lost." Kagome blushed. "Can you show me to my room?"  
The young girl smiled pleasantly and led her up a series of staircases to the hallway that Kagome recognized.   
Kagome smiled. "Thank you very much."   
The maid bowed and left Kagome in her room.   
She prepared for bed, and went to sleep.  
'I hope Inuyasha isn't *too* angry in the morning...'  
  
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Inuyasha hunted through ivy. He decided that there was no way she could have gone too far. It was when he realized that he couldn't smell her personal scent anymore, it made him stop and think. He climbed back up into the room. Yes, she had defiantly ran into this room...and she had even opened the window...but...  
He furrowed his brows in annoyance. She had only opened the window, making him assume she had gone out it. She escaped. He headed back to his room.  
But it made something else nag at him.   
Why was she running away from him??  
He paled.   
No...It couldn't be because...because he was a hanyou? Because she didn't like the idea that he was...that he was what? Better than her? Yea right.   
Stronger than her? No...he was a guy, and that already meant that he was a little stronger...and heck, she was pretty strong already.   
She wasn't afraid of him, was she?  
No, it couldn't be that...he had just held her in his arms......but then she ran away.   
Inuyasha thought worriedly about it as he lay on his bed.   
The fear had already started eating away at him. He had to know the answer.   
And what was the most important thing in his world right now?  
  
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I hope you enjoyed that chapter ^__^  
Please review~!  
  
=^.^= 


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